Harry Potter and the Australian Wizarding Academy
by silverbullet-1st
Summary: Harry has defeated Voldemort and when it seems that he can lead a normal life for once, a series of strange events occur and mess it all up again.....
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – Sorry you haven't heard anything from me in a while. Between having my GCSE's and my non-existent revising, I haven't had much time to update anything. **

**Thanks for any and all reviews you submitted for Bringing Up The Family. I'm glad you all approved of the last chapter of the story. **

**This story…is completely different to **_**anything**_** I've ever given you before. It still has Harry/Hermione in it (as if I'd write anything but that) but the new characters all represent me and my friends. I'm writing it for them, but I feel bad not giving you anything coz people have mailed me and asked about stories. So here's something. I've written a little more for The Thing About Love, but I probably won't update it soon. I've also decided (due to one of the reviews of messages I got) that I'd write a few spin off stories from Bringing Up The Family, so you can look out for those in the future. **

**Hope you like this.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter One**

_**Getting Rid of the Competition?**_

_Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, has recently become known as The-Boy-Who-Triumphed, due to his success in the Final Battle against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, not two days ago. With the support of his friends, Harry Potter was able to overcome the power of The Dark Lord and vanquish him for good. _

_What this reporter asks himself – and the readers of this article – though, is_

'_Was this all a ploy to make Harry Potter himself the next Dark Lord?'_

"This is a complete outrage," Hermione fumed, pausing in her reading of the front page article on the _Daily Prophet_ and looking up at Harry. He shrugged and shoved a spoonful of cornflakes into his mouth.

"Nah, continue," Ron interrupted, leaning forward, eager to hear what else the reporter had to say. Hermione glared at him, but turned her attention back to the article anyway.

_Details of the Battle are scarce due to the amount of information the Ministry of Magic are trying to keep secret and Harry Potters willingness to oblige, but we were able to deduct that Draco Malfoy, former school enemy of Harry Potter, turned against the Dark Lord and assisted in his downfall. _

_Is this new found friendship the start of something far more sinister –_

"They make it sound as if I'm in love with the guy," Harry scoffed, screwing his face up in disgust at the very idea.

"Well, you know, the two of you would make a _lovely _couple," Ron teased, earning him a slap upside the head from Hermione and a glare from Harry.

_- will the two bond –_

"Bond?" Harry interrupted. "Does it actually say that word?" Without waiting for a reply, he snatched the newspaper from Hermione's hands and scanned the article.

"If you don't mind," Hermione said, taking it back. "I'd like to finish the article before morning class's start."

_- and form the next generation of Darkness? _

_Only proving to support this theory, Harry Potter asked that Draco Malfoy not be sent to Azkaban despite the fact that he was proven to be a Death Eater. _

_The two Hogwarts students returned for their final term at school and are currently studying for their N.E.W.T's. The reporter asks though, is teaching these two students such things suitable considering recent circumstances? _

_As I'm sure many readers know, Harry Potter – against the rulings of the Ministry of Magic – set up his own Defence Against The Dark Arts class in his Fifth Year at Hogwarts – _

"Would it kill them to mention us too?" Ron asked. "Or do they completely overlook the fact that Harry has two best friends?"

"They mentioned you," Hermione replied, smiling.

"No they never."

"They did," she insisted. "Right at the beginning."

"What? Let me see." Ron snatched the paper from her and scanned the first paragraph of the article. "Where?"

Hermione leaned over and pointed to a line near the top. "…with the support of his friends-"

"Well aren't you just hilarious?" Ron said, tossing the newspaper back at her.

"I like to think so," Hermione replied, smiling.

_- and taught a number of students spells that the Ministry would have preferred they had not known. _

_Was this then, the beginning of the army the two will eventually build up?_

"Malfoy wasn't even in it!" Harry objected, scowling.

"I'm not really sure they care. It's not as if the _Daily Prophet _ever prints the truth anyway," Hermione replied. "Now shush."

_Rufus Scrigmour – current Minister for Magic – admitted yesterday to having his doubts about Harry Potter right from the start. In an interview with him yesterday we were told that Scrigmour would never have trusted Harry Potter and did his best to avoid him at all costs – _

"Lying git!" Harry fumed. "He was all over me last year!" A few of the first year students looked shocked at his sudden outburst and hurriedly picked up their things and bolted out of the Great Hall. Hermione smiled sympathetically and looked back down at the article.

_Our sources within the Ministry –_

"They're going to have a field day over that one."

_- tell us that Draco Malfoy was also involved in the death of former Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumledore. Was this then, another step in the duo's quest to overthrow the Wizarding World? _

_It is a widely known fact that the only person You-Know-Who feared was Albus Dumbledore. Working with this information, did Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter decide that it was necessary to dispose of their Professor – one of the most Powerful Wizards of our time - so that he could not stop them in the future?_

Hermione looked up at Harry, knowing that he would be uncomfortable talking about Dumbledore and was unsurprised to see him glaring into his bowl.

_The two successfully managed to pull off their plan, at the same time making it look as if it was all a plot thought up by You-Know-Who himself – _

"They all _know _it was Voldemort who came up with that plan," Hermione scoffed.

"They'll still have some massive article about it tomorrow," Harry replied. "About how I turned up in the middle of the night with a barely conscious Dumbledore-"

"Harry," Hermione warned. "Don't start blaming yourself again. Neither of you knew that would happen." He looked at her for a moment before nodding and looking back down at the table.

_Hogwarts School – now run by Minerva McGonagall – is no longer considered the safest place in the UK due to the wards that fell down when Albus Dumbledore died. _

_In conclusion to this article, us here at the Daily Prophet ask you if it is wise to let Harry Potter remain at Hogwarts, where he will surely learn everything he needs to know about the Dark Arts and become powerful enough to take over the Wizarding World. _

"Where do they come up with this rubbish?" Hermione asked, flicking through the next couple of pages, looking for anything interesting.

"They clearly have nothing better to do," Harry replied, finishing the last of his cereal and pushing the bowl into the middle of the table.

"Well maybe they should actually start reporting _real _news-"

"They do. About five pages in after all the crap about me," Harry said, smirking. Hermione snorted behind the newspaper and folded it back so that she could read an article easier.

"What's that?" Harry asked, grabbing the paper and laying it on the table in front of him.

"What?" Hermione leaned over the table to get a better look at the article and blushed when she saw it. "How in Merlin's name did they get _that _picture?"

"'Hermione Granger – trying to decide between the two future candidates for Dark Lord?'" Harry read. The picture on the right of the article showed her hugging Harry, moments after the two had been discharged from St. Mungos, while the picture on the left showed her shaking hands with Draco Malfoy.

"Only the _Daily Prophet _could have turned that picture of you and Malfoy into something more than platonic," Harry said, scowling at the paper. Ron snorted a laugh and Hermione turned round to glare at him.

"You won't be laughing when you read that article about you and Malfoy deciding to give a romantic relationship a go," she stated. Ron's eyes practically bulged out of his head and he yanked the paper away from his two friends, flicking through to find the article in question. Hermione rolled her eyes and picked up her bag, motioning for Harry to come too.

"We'll see you in class, Ron," she said, patting his shoulder. He replied with an almost inaudible 'whatever' and it wasn't until they were well out of hearing range that Harry turned to Hermione.

"I didn't see an article about Ron and Malfoy."

"That's because there wasn't one," Hermione replied, smirking. Harry looked at her in amazement for a moment, seconds before he burst out laughing.

----

Draco Malfoy trudged through the halls of Hogwarts solemnly. He'd deliberately missed breakfast to avoid the glares sent his way, not only from the Gryffindors – but from most of the Slytherins too. From their point of view, turning on the Dark Lord was a foolish thing to do.

It wasn't that he'd suddenly decided to go over to the good side because he'd had a change of heart and wanted to rid the world of evil. No. It was more that he'd used his brain and come to the conclusion that there was no way the Dark Lord could beat Harry Potter. What _would _have been foolish would be staying on the loosing side – when they are so clearly going to loose – and spend the rest of his miserable life in Azkaban. So, playing Potter for the sucker he was, all he had to do was save his pathetic mudblood best friend from a stray killing curse and he'd pretty much won over his trust. Of course, to keep the part up and avoid a sentence in Azkaban – which Harry had kindly ordered him not to be given – he had to pretend that they were 'getting along'. Despite the sudden urges he had to thump the lot of them sometimes, it wasn't all that difficult. It wasn't as if he had to stay there all his life – as soon as he graduated he could sell his father's mansion and move to the other side of the planet.

Turning the corner to his class, Draco instantly wished Potter had been there to provide him with some sort of backup.

"Alright, traitor?" Blaise Zambini sneered. "How's your father doing in Azkaban?"

Draco shrugged, "Dead hopefully. How about yours? Heard he was scheduled for the kiss."

"He is not!" Zambini argued, though his face paled considerably. Draco grinned and joined the back of the line. Blaise had always been close to his father and jibes about him was a sure fire way to piss the Slytherin off. He was just about to retort when Harry and Hermione came into view and his mouth shut with a resounding snap.

"Malfoy," Harry greeted. Draco nodded his head in return and leaned against the wall, looking at the two of them.

"Where's Weasel?"

"Trying to find a non-existent article in _The Daily Prophet _about you two snogging in a broom closet," Hermione replied. Draco smirked.

"You two are such lying gits!" Ron fumed, turning the corner behind them and tossing the Newspaper at Harry, only making the other two members of the Trio laugh.

"Read the paper, Malfoy?" Harry asked, handing it over to the Slytherin who took it and scanned the article they had read a few minutes ago. His face screwed up in disgust and he threw it back.

"That's not all. Apparently, Hermione's trying to decide whether she should date you or me-"

"You're welcome to her," Draco scoffed. Hermione rolled her eyes and took the paper, slapping both of the boys on the arm with it.

"I don't intend to date either of you." Harry opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off as the Defence teacher came into view at the end of the corridor. They weren't sure whether the curse that had been placed on the position had been broken when Voldemort was killed, but nothing had arisen yet to give the teacher a cause to leave – Harry was glad.

While Remus Lupin had been forced to leave and had no intention what-so-ever of coming back any time in the near future – it hadn't stopped his new fiancé from applying for the position. Nymphadora Tonks was admittedly rather clumsy, but she had proved a worthy candidate for the job. While it had started out as a way to get more Aurors into Hogwarts, she'd begun to enjoy herself and fully intended to continue to work there next term.

"Sorry I'm late," she apologised, hurriedly opening the door and ushering the class inside. "I was rather busy and completely lost track of time." She smiled at the Trio as they passed and Harry took in her somewhat dishevelled appearance and rosy cheeks and had an inkling as to what she had been doing. The Trio took up their seats at the back of the class, while Draco Malfoy sat on the row next to them, leaving enough space to show that he was sitting on his own.

The class passed relatively slowly due to the fact the only thing they were doing was going over things that they had already learnt in preparation for their exams. Ron fell asleep a few minutes in and Harry had to keep slapping him to stop his snoring. The only way he could wake him up at the end of the class was to push him off his seat all together. Even Malfoy had laughed at the sight.

----

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully, and it wasn't until dinner that something interesting – if rather unexpected happened.

The Hall had instantly fallen silent when McGonagall rose from her seat and all eyes turned to her, wondering what she had to say.

"Although not all of you may be aware of it, it was not only the UK that was affected by Voldemort. Death Eaters that he had positioned in other countries did all they could to avenge his Death when word got to them.

"One unfortunate case was that of a school in Australia. Few students survived and due to the small numbers, they have been sent to England, to Hogwarts, to finish off their schooling-"

Her voice was drowned out at this point as everyone began to talk excitedly.

"Quiet, please, quiet!" The talk in the Hall slowly died down and all eyes turned once again to look at the Headmistress, who by this time had picked up the Sorting Hat from the table behind her. On cue, the double doors to the hall opened and every single head turned to the trail of students that followed Filch through it.

Harry counted no more than ninety in total, which was a small number considering the size the school must have been. The majority of the students looked years five through seven and the younger students looked nervous as hell. Harry didn't blame them. He'd felt the same when he'd had to walk up to the front of the Hall to be sorted.

"When I call your names, I want you to step forward so I can place the Sorting Hat on your head." Pulling her list out of one of many pockets on her robe she read out the first name. "Yvette Summers." A nervous looking third year student stepped forward and let McGonagall place the hat on her head. Harry, who was sitting at the very front of the table with Hermione and Ron, could hear some of the other students whispering to each other – mostly about the fact that they could see Harry Potter – and he suddenly wished he'd sat further up the table.

"Hufflepuff!" The house cheered half-heartedly as the girl wandered over to their table. "Aeryn Bays." A seventh year girl stepped forward and McGonagall set the hat on her head.

"Gryffindor!" There was a collective cheer from the Gryffindors – probably more happy at the fact they got a new student before Slytherin. In fact, Slytherin didn't get anyone until at least the twentieth person, right after another seventh year student – Ailish Tully – was sorted into Gryffindor.

"Siobhan Roche!"

Draco Malfoy was the first to perk up when he saw the new girl. His eyes followed from her spot in front of the stairs to standing right in front of McGonagall and he grinned when – as soon as it touched her head – the Sorting Hat shouted out 'Slytherin'. The rest of the table cheered, but he sat still not once taking his eyes off her. It wasn't until she sat in front of him that he spoke.

"Draco Malfoy." She looked at the hand he'd extended and reached up to take it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Two**

"_Draco Malfoy." She looked at the hand he'd extended and reached up to take it. _

"Who you talking to, Malfoy?" Blaise cut in, slamming Draco's hand down on the table just as Siobhan's fingers brushed against his.

"Piss off Zambini," Draco warned, reaching into his pocket for his wand. Blaise ignored him, still pinning his arm down to the table.

"Name's Blaise. Blaise Zambini," he introduced, holding his hand out across the table to the new girl. She looked down at it for a moment and then back up at his face.

"Zambini? Your Dad's in Azkaban, right?" she asked, smirking. This wiped the smirk off his face and he dropped his hand immediately. "Pretty stupid of him to get caught don't you think?"

They stared each other down for a moment before Blaise narrowed his eyes and broke the silence, "Next time you talk about my Dad like that I'll hex you-"

"I'd like to see you try," Siobhan warned, earning a smirk from Draco. With one last glance in her direction, Blaise released Draco's arm and strutted off to the other end of the table.

Draco chuckled, "I think I'm going to get to like you."

"Likewise," Siobhan replied, holding her hand out for Draco to shake.

"Yes, well, you're on the wrong side of Blaise already," he said, looking up the table at him.

"I think I'll manage," she replied, shrugging and pulling her hand away.

"You pissed him off with that stuff about his Dad-"

"That was…kind of the idea."

"How'd you know he wouldn't like it? Most Slytherins are pretty proud of their Fathers being thrown in a cell in Azkaban to rot." Siobhan looked at him for a moment like she was trying to decide whether to tell him a secret or not.

"Maybe another time," she eventually replied. Draco looked at her suspiciously for a moment before nodding and grabbing the bowl of potatoes from the middle of the table to fill up his plate with.

----

The next few days at Hogwarts were pretty hectic – what with trying to fit the new students into the timetable.

Harry had to put up with stares from the new students that he hadn't had to put up with in a long while and it was making him feel rather uncomfortable. He could hear the whispers following him in the corridor and it was all he could do not to turn round and tell them to mind their own business.

The majority of new students had ended up in Gryffindor and the rest were split pretty evenly between Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. This meant that the Gryffindor common room was more packed than normal and it was rather difficult to find anywhere to sit. Harry had long since abandoned the idea, instead taking to wandering around the Black Lake.

He was currently on his way to Transfiguration, Ron and Hermione trailing close behind him, bickering about something or another.

"Honestly Ronald, she may well be your little sister but she's old enough to make her own decisions-"

"Own decisions? Hermione, she's dating one of my _room mates_. He's not even her age!"

"Ron, it's one years difference! It's hardly a large age gap!"

"Yeah but-"

"Stop winging. Ginny is seventeen this year and she can decide for herself who she wants to date. Just stop interfering." Ron pulled a face at her behind her back as she stormed off to join Harry then quickly stopped as she seemed to think better of stopping the conversation and quickly spun back round to face him.

"Besides, Ron, Ginny dated _Harry_! He's a year older than her-"

"Whoa! Don't bring _me _into this," Harry said, holding his hands up.

"That is completely different!" Ron argued.

"No it's not!" Hermione told him, smirking. Ron scowled; knowing that she'd won and watched her enter the classroom with a smug look on her face.

Ron trudged to his seat next to Harry while Hermione made for her seat at the desk on the left of theirs. McGonagall was already at the front of the room, waiting for the class to quiet down.

"Now, as I have started every other class today I would like to welcome any new students to Hogwarts. I would also like to announce that the school will now have an extra Quidditch team consisting of students from the Wizarding Academy in Australia. Any former members of your Quidditch team and your Captain will be allowed to use the Quidditch fields this weekend to tryout." A few of the new students smiled.

"Now, more importantly, Transfiguration…"

----

"So the three Quidditch Captains from your old school are racing to see who the Captain for this team will be?" Draco asked, following Siobhan down to the Quidditch Pitch.

"Yes."

"Okay. What's the competition?"

"The three of us are all seventh years; me, Aeryn Bays and David McDonald. Chaser and a Beater, so whatever happens all three of us will be on the team anyway."

"Know either of them personally?" Draco enquired.

"Does it matter?" she asked.

He shrugged, "Just curious."

"David is my ex-boyfriend, but I don't know Aeryn all that well. She kept to herself a lot." Draco nodded his understanding and watched the small shapes already darting around on the Pitch. He knew without even looking at the stands that a few people would want to go and watch. Harry and Ron were already there, playing a game of exploding snap while they waited for the tryouts to start. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw had sent their Captains and the Slytherin Captain was there too. He waved Draco over.

"Good luck," he said, turning back to Siobhan. "Not that you need it." She smiled at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Trying to flatter me?"

"Is it working?" he asked, coyly. In response he received a slap on the arm. Still smirking he made his way up into the stands, taking a seat next to one of the only Slytherins who would still talk to him.

Practices started twenty minutes later and most of the older students had turned up to try out. The race between the three Captains was taken care of first however. Five laps around the field and then a smooth touch down. The three shot off the ground at the count of three and everyone watched them closely. McDonald quickly fell behind – his broom wasn't nearly as fast as the two girls and they shot ahead of him. For the first three laps the two were neck to neck, but when it came to fourth lap Siobhan was ever so slightly taking the lead and by the fifth lap she was barely a meter in front of Aeryn. David had already given up, knowing that he wasn't going to win and was back on the ground with his friends, watching the two girl's race for position. Draco Malfoy looked at him thoughtfully, trying to determine just how much of a prat the guy had to be to not be embarrassed by the fact he'd just lost a race to two girls.

By the time he looked back round to see who was winning, both girls were hurtling towards the ground. It was a close call, but Siobhan's feet touched the ground seconds before Aeryn's.

Draco smirked and sent her thumbs up when she looked at the stands. She smiled back and rounded up everyone who had tried out.

The list was posted at the end of the day on the double doors to the Great Hall so that everyone could see it.

**Captain: Siobhan Roche**

**Seeker: Siobhan Roche**

**Beaters: Aeryn Bays & Ailish Tully**

**Chasers: Frances Clarke, Zack Morgan, David McDonald**

**Keeper: Alfie Tomkins **

**----**

Ron refused to admit that he was spying on his sister. He wasn't. He was merely following her around to make sure that she wasn't anywhere near Dean. That was _not _spying. Technically he _should _have been on his way to lessons, but this was far more important.

Hiding behind the corner as his sister stopped and looked round, Ron decided that if she ever found out that he was doing this she'd kill him. He frowned when he realised he could no longer see her and in his haste to try and find her again he ran into something. Or rather, someone.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry!" he said, reaching down to pick up the books that that dropped on the floor.

"S'alright." Hurriedly gathering everything he'd made her drop, Ron stood up.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, um...sorry about that I was looking for my sister," Ron apologised, looking over the heads of the students in the corridor for Ginny.

"Don't you mean _spying _on her?" the girl asked. Ron looked down at her in disbelief and she laughed.

"I have two older brothers. I know exactly what you're doing."

"Right," Ron replied, his face turning the same colour as his hair.

"I'm Aeryn," she introduced, holding out her hand.

"Ron. Ron Weasley," he replied, moving all the stuff of hers that he was still holding into his other arm so he could reach out and take her hand. "Aren't you on the Quidditch Team?"

"Beater. You're Gryffindors Keeper, right?"

"Yeah," Ron replied, nodding his head and letting her drop his hand.

"Well, I'll let you 'look for you sister'," Aeryn said, looking down at her watch. "I have to get to Potions."

"She's long gone," Ron replied, looking down the corridor one last time to make sure. "I'll walk with you to Potions."

----

"Bit late aren't you mate?" Harry asked as Ron rushed into the classroom five minutes later. Luckily the teacher hadn't turned up yet.

"Uh, I ran into someone," he replied, holding the books out as if it would prove his point.

"Yeah, literally," Aeryn interrupted, taking her books back. Harry and Hermione looked at each other and then Ron, waiting for some sort of introduction. He got the hint after a few moments of silence.

"Uh, Aeryn, these are my two best friends, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Guys this is Aeryn."

"Nice to meet you," Harry greeted, nodding his head.

"You too," she replied. "I…should probably-"

"Sit with us," Hermione offered. "Spare seat anyway."

"Uh…sure, thanks."

As the two of them sat down, Draco and Siobhan hurried into the classroom – closely followed by the teacher – and sat down at one of the tables at the back of the classroom. Unsurprisingly the teacher told them that this would be a revision lesson and to get their books out and take notes from anything in there that they didn't know about. Draco decided he couldn't be bothered.

"Wanna play a game?" he offered, turning to Siobhan.

"A game?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah."

"What kind of game?" After thinking about it for a moment he smiled and pulled out his wand using it to tear his paper into pieces and then screw them into balls.

"What on Earth are you doing?"

"You have to throw the paper balls at people," he explained, picking one up to demonstrate. "Five points if you hit their back or arms and ten if you hit their head." Picking his target and making sure the teacher wasn't looking, Draco lobbed the small paper ball at the back of Blaise's head.

"Rules," Siobhan said, picking up one of the balls. "You can't get caught-"

"Point deducted for every time you do," Draco added.

"One with the most points at the end wins-"

"Looser has to buy the drinks at Hogsmeade next weekend."

"What makes you think I'll be going to Hogsmeade with you?"

"Why, have someone else in mind?" he asked, smirking.

"You're a cocky sod," Siobhan scoffed, tossing a ball at a Hufflepuffs head.

"Thank you," Draco quipped. "I do try."

----

Harry and Hermione got back to the Gryffindor Common Room after a stroll round the lake to find Aeryn and Ron engrossed in a game of chess. A few people – Ginny included – were sitting round them. The other two were obviously the new students as Harry had never seen them before.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked, sitting down next to Ginny.

"Shush! She's beating him!" Ginny hissed, turning her attention back to the game. Ron had look of pure concentration on his face while Aeryn just sat smiling at him. Hermione looked at the board. Ron had lost all his pawns save for one and his queen seemed to be missing too. Both his knights were still intact but one bishop and a rook had gone. Aeryn still had her queen and both rooks, but no bishops and only one knight. There were at least four pawns left.

"Unless he comes up with something good she's _going _to win," one of the new students said, leaning round Ginny to talk to Hermione. She looked up at him.

"Demetrie Guapo," he said. "Aeryn's best friend. This is Ailish, my girlfriend and her twin, Isac." He pointed to each in turn.

"I'd shake your hand, but it's a bit awkward reaching across."

"That's alright." Hermione – on taking in his blue hair – decided that he was a metamorphagus.

The two looked up as Aeryn spoke, "Checkmate, Ron.".

"Y-you beat me," he replied, disbelievingly, scanning the board.

"'Fraid so."

"All those times you said there was no one in the world that could beat you at chess," Ginny scoffed, smiling. "Aeryn put you in your place."

"Yeah," Ron said, still not all with the conversation. "Yeah, she did." At this point he came to his senses and looked up to see Aeryn smirking at him. He nodded his head and held his hand over the chess board. "I want a rematch sometime, you know."

"You're on," Aeryn replied, shaking his hand.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Three**

Not that he'd ever admit it to anyone, but Harry had recently begun to think of Hermione as more than a friend. He wasn't sure when the platonic feelings he'd always felt for her had changed, but he guessed it was sometime around the beginning of their seventh year when they'd been looked for the Horcruxes.

He was on his way to meet her – alone again – under the old oak tree by the Black Lake. She was, unsurprisingly, already there when he arrived and he came up behind her, snatching the book she was reading from her hands.

"Harry!" she cried, spinning round to grab the book. He held it out of reach and smirked at her.

"Hey, Hermione," he greeted, ignoring the death glare she was sending him. She made a wild grab for the book but missed by miles.

"Ugh…you are so infuriating!"

"I know," Harry replied, smirking and making Hermione roll her eyes.

"Where's Ron?"

"Showing Aeryn where the library is," Harry replied, sitting down next to Hermione. "Said he'd be here soon, but I doubt we'll see him for a while. Hermione!" As soon as he'd had his attention taken away from the fact that he'd stolen her book, Hermione had taken her chance to dive forward and grab his arm. The two of them fell backwards – rather harder than Hermione had intended – onto the grass and Harry laughed, trying to hold the book out of her reach.

"Harry. Bloody. Potter. Give. Back. My. Book. Now!"

"Make me!" he cried defiantly, pushing her off and taking off towards the lake. Hermione growled in annoyance and ran after him, knowing that there was no way in hell she was going to catch him. While not usually one to break the rules, Hermione quickly checked that there were no teachers around and pulled out her wand, pointing it at Harry's feet and tripping him up. He let out a yelp of surprise and smashed into the ground. Hermione laughed triumphantly, but he still managed to get up and run when he realised she'd done it. Fortunately, he wasn't that far ahead and she jumped forward, sending the both of them flying.

"Hermione Granger gone bad!" Harry cried, dramatically, still holding the book above his head. Faster than she could follow, Harry had flipped them over so that he was pinning her to the floor and threw the book a few feet to the side of them.

"Watch closely Miss Granger because this is me extracting payment for tackling me to the ground." Hermione began to protest but it was a pointless attempt – Harry knew she was the most ticklish person ever. In a last attempt to get him away from her, Hermione rolled them slightly to the right – then instantly wished she hadn't. She let out a shriek of surprise when, once the two of them had started, they didn't stop rolling until she felt herself land in freezing cold water. Harry let go of her arms and she came up to the surface of the water seconds later to find Harry smirking.

"If I wasn't a witch and didn't know drying spells, I would have killed you by now-"

"Excuse me! You're the one who rolled us down a hill!"

"I wouldn't have had to if you hadn't stole my book!" she cried. Without even waiting for her to finish, Harry put his hands in the water and splashed her.

"Harry!"

----

Slytherin Common Room was completely empty when Draco Malfoy woke up that morning. He was rather disappointed when he looked around and couldn't even find Siobhan, but sat down in one of the chairs around the fire anyway.

He was happy that over the last few days he'd actually found another person in the castle who would do more than glare at him in disgust and then try and get away from him. The fact that he liked her helped too.

"What you doing, Mafloy?" a voice sneered behind him. His hand instinctively went down to the pocket of his robes where he kept his wand and he spun round, coming face to face with Blaise.

"What do you want now, Zambini?" he asked, glaring at the Slytherin. "Because if you're over here _just _to piss me off-"

"Of course not," he replied, stepping closer and lowering his voce to a whisper. "We're going to have our revenge for your betrayal against the Dark Lord, you know. I hear even your own father has it in for you-"

"Well screw you and screw my father," Draco hissed back. "You do anything to me and I'll make sure you spend the rest of you life blind and in a cell next to your parents."

"Not that I don't believe you have the resources to carry through with that threat, but I doubt you'll be alive long enough to go through with any of it anyway-"

"What crap are you on about now, Zambini?"

"Just remember Draco that when it comes down to numbers, we have the overall advantage. You couldn't even get more than that Roche girl to talk to you if your life depended on it."

"I have all the support I need, Blaise-"

"Potter? He wouldn't save your life, Malfoy, so I wouldn't place any faith in him."

"Piss off before I hex you-"

"Three weeks to say your goodbye's, Draco," Blaise threatened. "Start counting." Draco glared at him as he stood up and then grinned when he saw who had come up behind him.

"You'd better hope that what you just said wasn't in anyway insulting," Siobhan threatened, digging her wand into his back. Blaise turned round to look at her and smirked.

"Cavalry has arrived, has it?" Instead of saying anything, Siobhan smiled and dug her wand into his chest – rather hard.

"Alright, alright, I was just leaving!" he said, holding up his hands in surrender. Draco distinctly heard him mutter 'bitch' under his breath as he walked away and pulled out his wand, pointing it at the boys back and shouting the first spell that came to his head. Blaise let out a yelp of surprise and flew a few feet, smashing into a table. When he turned round, blood dripping from a cut on his cheek, he had two wands pointing straight at his chest.

"Unless you want me to completely knock you unconscious, I suggest you piss off," Draco warned.

"Three weeks, Draco," Blaise reminded him, smirking. Siobhan looked round, confused and Blaise hurried off.

"What did he mean?" she asked when he was out of ear shot.

"I don't know," Draco admitted. "Something about how everyone's going to get revenge for what I did to the Dark Lord. It's an empty threat, don't worry about it." Siobhan looked at him, concerned.

"Don't, okay? He's not going to do anything on his own. He's stupid and…and…I don't know, but there is no way I'm going to fall for anything that Blaise cooks up."

----

Harry and Hermione found everyone – minus Ron and Aeryn – sitting round the fire in Gryffindor Common Room when they got back. Everyone looked up as they entered and after one look at their still damp clothes all looked round at each other.

"Just don't even ask," Hermione said, sitting down next to Ginny and throwing her books on the table in front of them.

"What did you do? Fall in the lake?" Ginny asked, looking at the two of them in confusion. They both looked up at her guiltily.

"Oh my God, you _did _fall in the lake?"

"We _rolled _into the lake and our drying spells weren't very strong because we were laughing too much to concentrate."

"Right," Ginny said, drawing out the word in a way that suggested she thought the two of them had gone completely insane. "Anyway, I was just explaining to Demetrie, Ailish and Isac how Harry Potter managed to get himself involved in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Care to help?"

"Only if you tell us a bit about Australia," Harry said, looking at them. "I've always wanted to go to a different country." Demetrie shrugged.

"Pretty much the same as here really. School's smaller though and we don't have as many students as you do here. The girls stairs are also not charmed to stop people going up them." Harry laughed and looked round as the portrait opened to reveal Ron and Aeryn.

"And just _where _have to two of you been all day?" Hermione questioned. Ron's head snapped up and he blushed.

"Oh…sorry…I was meant to meet you guys down at the lake, wasn't I?"

"Yes, Ron, you were."

"I – Are you…_wet_?"

"That's not important-"

"We were in the library-"

"All day?" Harry interrupted.

Hermione looked at Aeryn. "You got him to stay in the library for a _whole _day? You _must _be joking."

"Hey!" Ron cried. "I'm capable of staying in the library all day!"

"What did you do? Put him under a spell?" Harry asked, curiously. "You'll have to teach me it."

"Piss of, Harry," Ron said, glaring at him. Harry smirked and moved over to make room for the new arrivals.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Four**

Draco sat resolutely in front of the Slytherin Common Room fireplace, watching the dying embers of the fire. After the continuous threats from Blaise, Draco felt like killing him. He had to be the most annoying person on the face on the Earth. On the up side, he finally had another Slytherin on his side for the remainder of the school term.

He looked up as the last embers of the fire crackled, bringing him out of his reverie and jumped when someone taped him on the shoulder. Spinning round, wand in hand, Draco prepared himself to hex someone.

"Whoa! Calm down!" Siobhan said, holding up her hands defensively. "I was just going to ask if you were up to a little trip down to the library-"

"Whatever," Draco interrupted, standing up and tucking his wand back into his robes. "Let's go." Siobhan nodded and lead him out of the Common Room.

"What's got you so jumpy?" Siobhan asked, eyeing him out of the corner of her eye. Draco looked round at her thoughtfully before shaking his head.

"It doesn't matter," he replied.

"So it's Blaise?"

"No. Yes. Sort of," he replied. "How do you know that anyway?"

"Come on," Siobhan scoffed. "He's been winding you up all week. It's pretty obvious."

"Yeah, I suppose," Draco admitted, holding open the doors to the Library for her. She thanked him and walked to the back of the Library, taking the empty seats there so that there was less of a chance of them being disturbed by passing students. Draco looked around the room warily before taking the seat in front of Siobhan and watching her get out her books and laying them on the table between them.

"So…why are we here?" he asked, curiously picking up one of the books that he'd never seen before and scanning the front cover. "And what's this?"

"What's what?" Siobhan asked, looking up from what she was doing to see what he was talking about. Draco took one last look at the cover and then turned the book round to show her. Her face turned pale when she saw what he had picked up and she hurriedly snatched it out of his hands, only to have it yanked back.

"Draco," she hissed, warningly. "I swear, if I get caught with that, I'll get kicked out-"

"That important, is it?" he asked, curiously flipping through the book. The writing on the pages all looked like scribbles to him and he lay the book down on the table, half way through and tried to decipher it with little success. The top right of the page had a magnificent drawing of a dragon which must have taken someone a long time to do. The page opposite that was decorated with a border that gave the whole book a most foreboding feel to it.

"What does this all mean?" he asked, pointing at what he _assumed _was writing. "Is it some sort of code?"

"Draco, give me back the book," Siobhan demanded, eyeing it warily and holding out her hand. "I'm serious. I _need _that book-"

"Yeah, but what is it? Dark arts book?"

"Draco!"

"Just tell me what all the scribbles are about-"

"I don't know," she hissed, reaching out and wrapping her hand around the book to pull it away. Draco slammed it back down on the table, defiantly.

"What do you mean you don't know what it is?"

"I have no idea what any of that writing says-"

"Well is it a code?" he probed, eager to get the answers from her. She frowned and looked around cautiously to make sure that no one was anywhere near them before turning back to him.

"I swear, if you repeat what I tell you to anyone else, I will kill you myself," she threatened. Draco held up his right hand and nodded, signalling that anything they said would be kept between the two of them.

"It's my parents," she started, still whispering so only he could hear. "I can truthfully say that I have _no _idea what it says, and before you ask again – it isn't in code-"

"Then what is it?"

"It's a spell," she answered. She looked hesitant to continue but could see that Draco expected more of an explanation than that. "It's got a spell on it that only enables Death Eaters to read it." Draco looked down at the book and then back up at her again before leaning back in his chair, keeping a firm grip on the book.

"Care to tell me what it's about?" he continued, cutting her off as she began to speak. "And don't tell me you don't know, because I'll know you're lying. You wouldn't be carrying around this book if you didn't have a clue what it was." Her mouth snapped shut and she glared at him – for a moment he was actually scared that she was going to hex him, but then her eyes softened and she put her quill down next to her blank piece of parchment.

"It's a number of things," she explained. "You have to have guessed by now that both my parents were Death Eaters-"

"Were?"

"Okay, _are_. I have no idea where they are though. They're in hiding, dead for all I know."

"Yeah, I get it."

"I think the first couple of pages are our family tree. Every single person in it turned out evil in some way or another. Your name is magically added to the tree _only _after you kill someone. How, the book doesn't care, but that's the way it works."

"You're not…on it…are you?" Draco asked, warily.

"Would it matter if I was?" Siobhan asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well…I suppose not-"

"I'm not on it," she reassured him. "I don't plan to be on it any time in the near future either. Anyway, the rest of the book contains a number of things. The first is a list of every single person who has ever served Voldemort. The second is a list of all the things they've done against the Wizarding law. The third is a long list of spells that my parents were working on and had perfected for their own personal use and…"

"And?" Draco prompted.

"And, there's something else in there, but I have no idea what that last thing is."

"How do you know the first three things if you're not a Death Eater?" he asked, curiously.

"My Dad used to sit and talk to me about it, but he would never tell me the last thing in the book. I think my Mum told him not to. That or the Dark Lord did." Draco looked down at the book still gripped tightly in his hand and flipped over a page, looking at the weird scribbling filling the whole thing. Complicated diagrams made no sense to him and probably wouldn't even he had, had the writing to accompany it.

"Is it dangerous?"

"Define what you mean by 'dangerous'." Siobhan replied, looking up from the book at his face.

"Well, will it…zap me or anything if I turn to a certain page?"

"It shouldn't. I mean…it's not as if you can read it anyway," she replied, uncertainly. "Maybe I should put it away in case it does." She reached out for it, only to have Draco snap it closed and hold it out of her reach.

"One last question," he said, and then you can have it back. On her nod, he continued, "Why do _you _have it? Shouldn't it be with your parents?" Siobhan bit her lip and looked up at the book.

"It's got a spell on it, owning it to a member of the family-"

"So you can't chuck it?"

"No, and believe me, I want to. It's a rather incriminating thing to be caught with, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I do," he replied. "But why do _you _have it? Why couldn't your parents have taken it?"

"I don't know," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "I got it in the mail from my parents just before they left. They said I had to look after it and when the time comes, they'll come and get it back."

"Right."

"That enough for you? Can I have it back now before someone sees it?" she asked, holding out a hand for the book again. Draco watched her closely for a moment and she stared defiantly back.

"Yeah, that's enough," he finally said, putting the book into her hand and watching as she hurriedly shoved it in her bag. "Why not leave it in your dorm?"

"And what would I do if someone saw it there and asked me about it?" she questioned, looking up at him again. "I hardly think I can recite what I told you to everyone else. They'd try to take it in a heartbeat." Draco nodded and smirked.

"I feel privileged that I'm trusted enough to be told all that."

"You're such an egotistical prat," she joked, shaking her head and looking down at her parchment to start what she had been here for the first place. Draco just smirked and leaned back in his chair, watching her.

----

Ron jumped as someone place their hands over his eyes and reached up to wrap his own around them.

"Guess who?" a voice asked, playfully.

"Aeryn?"

"Got it in one," she replied, taking her hands away and sitting down in the chair next to him. Ron smiled and folded up the letter he had been reading, putting it back in its envelope.

"What's that?" Aeryn asked, curiously, looking at it.

"It's from my brothers, Fred and George. They're opening up a joke shop in Hogsmeade and they want to know if Filtch still has a ban on all products from 'Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes'." Aeryn nodded and looked up at the portrait.

"Library?" she asked, hopefully.

"Again?" Ron sighed, hanging his head back on the chair.

"Well you don't _have _to come. I was just asking." She was halfway across the room before Ron jumped up to catch up with her.

"Alright, alright, but you so owe me at least ten chocolate frogs or something." Aeryn smiled and followed him on the already familiar path to the Library.

When they got there, the only three people already there were Madam Prince, Draco and Siobhan. Ron dragged Aeryn over to one of the furthest tables away from Malfoy so that there would be no snide remarks to her about 'hanging round with a Weasel'.

_Though_, Ron mused, smiling at the thought. _It was better than hanging around with a Ferret. _

"So, what are we here for this time?" he asked, sitting down at the table as she disappeared behind a bookshelf, poking her head round the corner to answer his question.

"Does it really only take you that long to forget about an assignment?" she asked, curiously. Ron's brow furrowed in confusion as he tried to remember which assignment she could be talking about. It's not as if they only had one to worry about a week, which would have been much easier. Maybe if all the teachers realised that their subject wasn't the only one the seventh year students were taking, he would know what Aeryn was talking about.

"Which one?" he asked, finally giving in.

"Transfiguration," her muffled voice replied. Ron thought about it for a moment before it dawned on him.

"Oh, I remember now. I think I feel asleep during that lesson. What was it?" he admitted. Aeryn reappeared with a few books which she set down on the table between them.

"Honestly, everything Hermione told me was actually right-"

"Huh?" Ron asked, sitting up in his chair. "What did she tell you?"

Aeryn smirked and held up her fingers to count of the list of things she had found out about Ron, "Well, apparently, you don't pay attention in class. But I mean, that can't be right, can it?"

"Oh, very funny," he replied, just as much sarcasm in his voice as there was in hers.

"Also, you have the emotional range of a teaspoon-"

"They're never going to forget that one, are they?"

"You have a short temper; you eat like a pig-"

"Oi! I resent that!"

"And you're very protective on Ginny. Of course, I witnessed that last one for myself the first time I met you, didn't I? When you were 'looking for your sister'." Ron's face flushed and he smiled guiltily.

"Anything else?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"Only that you hate Draco Malfoy."

"And for good reasons," he scoffed, glaring at the Slytherin a few tables away. "He may well have saved Hermione's life, but he's still a lying, two faced, bastard."

"You're not willing to give him a chance even though he _did _save your best friends life?"

"No," Ron replied. "He's tried to hurt Hermione more than once and doing one good thing doesn't make up for six or so years of being a complete arsehole. He wants my trust, he's going to have to prove himself more than once."

"I get the point," Aeryn said, holding up her hands to show that she really did. "You don't like the guy."

"Understatement. I _hate _the guy."

"Everyone's allowed a second chance, Ron-"

"Merlin, don't," Ron moaned, burring his face in his hands. "You sound like Hermione now. All you have to do is call me 'Ronald' and you'll be there – and don't do it!" Aeryn closed her mouth and smiled.

"Like I would."

"I wouldn't put it past you." Aeryn's only response was to smile and pick up her quill and one of the books from the middle of the table.

"Essay on how to transfigure a fully grown dog into a rabbit," Aeryn said, handing him the book and picking up another one for herself.

"Read up, _Ronald_."

"Aeryn!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Five**

Hermione wasn't usually one to be late to breakfast, so when Harry arrived that morning to find Ron there without her, he instantly got the vibe that something was up. Looking around to make sure that Hermione wasn't in fact at any of the other tables, Harry took a seat in front of his best friend, grabbing a piece of toast from the plate in the middle of the table.

"You haven't seen Hermione, have you?" Harry asked, still looking for her.

"Nah," Ron replied. "I suppose she's up reading or something. It's a Saturday after all."

"No," Harry said. "Hermione would have come down to breakfast. Maybe something's up-"

"Don't worry, mate, she'll be fine." Harry looked round at Ron who seemed to care more about his food than the whereabouts of their other best friend, and then back round at the doors to the Great Hall. A smile washed over his face as he saw Hermione there, but it instantly disappeared when he saw the look on her face.

"You are _not _going to believe this," she fumed, slamming the _Daily Prophet _down on the table next to him. "_I_ can't believe it."

"If it's another article about Harry becoming the next Dark Lord, then stuff it," Ron scoffed, piling more food onto his plate. Hermione looked up at him in disgust and then turned her attention to Harry.

"_Is _it another article about me?" he asked, curiously.

"No," she huffed, sitting next to him. "Just read it." She tossed the paper in his direction and if it weren't for his Seeker reflexes, it would have hit him straight in the face. He watched Hermione put some food on her plate for a few seconds, just to check that she wouldn't explode as soon as he started reading and then looked down at the article. He didn't even have to read the first paragraph to understand why Hermione was so angry. The Headline did it all.

"Shit…" he breathed, looking at the five pictures covering the front page.

"Exactly," Hermione replied. "I mean, _how _could they let that happen-"

"What's going on?" Ron asked, slightly more interested now that Harry seemed to care about what was in the article too. Harry looked up at him and then handed him the newspaper. The second his eyes had scanned the Headline, he tossed the paper angrily on the table and glared at it.

"Five of them escaped! It wasn't even just _one_! Five bloody Death Eaters, all out of Azkaban." Hermione picked up the paper and folded it up before putting it in her bag.

"Which five was it?" Harry asked, not having read anything further than the Headline.

"Malfoy, Bellatrix, Barty Crouch Jr., Zambini and Dolohov," Hermione replied, her hand instinctively reaching down to the scar on her stomach that Dolohov had given her in their fifth year. Harry scowled when he realised what she was doing and he turned back to his breakfast angrily.

"You don't think…you know…they won't cancel Hogsmeade next weekend, will they?" Ron asked, looking up from his breakfast again for an answer.

"Doubt it," Hermione replied. "But they'll have lots of Aurors and the teachers will probably be there too."

----

Blaise woke up to a tapping at his window. He quickly glanced at the clock and then climbed tiredly out of his bed to let in the owl that had woken him up. As soon as he unlatched the window, the bird flew in, flapping its wings excitedly. Blaise managed to grab one of its wings as it flew past his head and he pulled it forcefully to a stop, smirking as it let out a frightened squeak.

He lost some interest in his post when he saw that was the Daily Prophet and opened the window, all but tossing the bird back out of it. He walked back over to his bed and flopped down on his back, bringing the paper up so that he could take a quick look at it.

Before he'd even read the front page, he was up in a flash and getting dressed, smirking all the while.

Draco Malfoy was already in the Common Room when Blaise finally arrived down there twenty minutes later, sitting in the chair by the fire, a book in his hand. Without a sound, Blaise crossed the room and leaned down so that his mouth was level with Draco's ear.

"Seen the Paper, Malfoy?" He let out a surprised yelp when Draco spun round and grabbed his collar, dragging him partly across the back of the sofa.

"What do you want _now_, Zambini?" he questioned, threateningly.

"I was just wondering if you'd read the morning Paper. I think the Headline news will be of some interest to you-"

"What are you on about?"

"Oh, have you not seen it?" Blaise asked, clearly already knowing the answer as he held the paper up in the hand that he wasn't using to support himself. Draco glared at him as if he expected the paper to do something before grabbing it from him and scanning his eyes over the front page.

Blaise watched in satisfaction as his fellow Slytherin's face turned pale and couldn't help the jibe that came out, "Five of them. Gee, I hope they aren't holding a grudge against anyone at the moment." Draco tossed the paper on the floor and used both his hands to haul Blaise over the sofa. He landed flat on his back with Draco pinning him to the floor, both his hands screwing his shirt up. Blaise reached up to grab his wrists, attempting to get him off, but knowing that it was no use. Draco was stronger.

"Tsk, tsk, Draco, what would your father say about all this violence?" Blaise teased, smirking. Draco gripped his shirt tighter, glaring at him.

"If I die, I'm taking you with me you bastard," he hissed.

"And if _I _die then I'm taking your girlfriend with me-"

"Touch her and I'll kill you myself," Draco threatened, pulling Blaise up and then slamming him back into the cold, hard floor again. Both boys looked round as the Portrait opened and Blaise smirked when he saw who it was.

"Ah, what a coincidence. We were just talking about you-" He was cut off as Draco slammed him into the floor again. Siobhan stood behind the sofa, watching them and received a smile from Blaise.

"Now piss off Zambini," Draco ordered, climbing off him. Blaise leaned on his elbows and looked at the two of them for a moment before climbing to his feet and doing as he was told.

"What was – Draco?" Siobhan wheeled round to follow Draco's progress as he stormed out of the Common Room and she quickly put her books down on the table behind her to follow him. Luckily, he hadn't got much further than the end of the corridor when she exited the room and she sped up her pace to keep up with him.

"Draco!" Once again he ignored her and after they were a sufficient distance away from the Slytherin Common Room, he slipped into an empty classroom. Siobhan managed slide in behind him before he'd had the sense to pull out his wand and place some locking charms on the door. She watched as he threw himself into an empty chair and buried his head in his arms. She was sure she heard a muffled 'fuck' come from him and despite the situation, she smiled.

"Do you swear often?" she asked. He jumped at the sound of her voice, obviously not realising she'd managed to slip though the door before he'd closed it. He looked at the door and then at her before scowling.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked, coldly.

"You needn't be so rude," she scoffed, sitting on one of the desks. "I followed to make sure you were OK."

"Well I'm fine."

"Sorry for caring," she replied, holding up her hands defensively. With one last look at him, she pulled out her wand and walked towards the door, thinking of strong enough spells that would unlock it.

"Wait…" Draco said, weakly behind her. She stopped dead, but didn't turn round. "I – I didn't mean for that to come out like that…I uh…" Siobhan smiled, but quickly wiped it off her face before turning round with her arms crossed.

"So are you going to tell me what happened?" she questioned, expectantly. Draco ran his hand through his hair and leaned back in his chair.

"Five Death Eaters escaped from Azkaban last night," he replied. "My Father included." Siobhan raised her eyebrows in surprise and moved a chair round so that she could sit in front of him.

"I don't get it," she confessed after a few moments of silence. "It's you _Dad_. Why would him – and the other Death Eaters – getting out of Azkaban…well…I don't know…make you react like this?" Draco sighed and buried his face in his hands again.

"'Cause I'm scared of him," he whispered. "He's going to _kill _me."

"What?" Siobhan asked, pulling one of his hands away so that she could look at his face. "What do you mean he's going to kill you?"

"I gave up the Dark Lord to Potter-"

"You _what_!?" Siobhan cried, yanking her hand away from his.

"Look, the odds were against him in that battle," Draco hastily explained. "There was no way he was going to beat Potter-"

"So you sold him out?"

"I'm a _Slytherin_!" he defended. "I wasn't going to stand by and let myself be thrown into Azkaban for the rest of my life! Just because I'm a Malfoy, doesn't mean I don't have a brain-"

"But you _gave up _the Dark Lord!"

"There'll be another one! Besides, even if I hadn't betrayed him _and _managed to avoid Azkaban, once all the others got out they would come after me and kill me anyway. A Slytherin protects his _own _back. No one else's. Tell me truthfully you wouldn't have done the same thing," he challenged. Siobhan glared at him for moment before leaning back in her chair.

"Fine, maybe I would have-"

"Exactly!"

"But you have to admit, they have good reasons at least to come looking for you-"

"Yeah, but if I can help it, they won't find me." With that said, Draco jumped up from the table and unlocked the wards on the door, storming out of the room. Luckily, the person he was looking for was standing at the end of the corridor. Striding up to him, he grabbed both of his shoulders and slammed him against the wall, elbowing Ron in the face as he tried to get him off and sending him flying to the floor. Before they had a chance to do anything else, Draco had pulled his wand out and pressed it to Harry's throat.

"What the _hell _are you doing, Malfoy?" he cried, trying to wriggle free.

"I want you to swear that if Death Eaters come looking for me that you'll protect me-" Harry interrupted with a bitter laugh.

"You pin me to a wall in a corridor and then expect my _protection_? You have some nerve, Malfoy." In response, Draco pressed his wand deeper into Harry's throat, threateningly.  
"I gave you the Dark Lord _and _I saved Grangers life. You're going to give me this in return."

"Alright, Malfoy, just get off me." Draco did as he was told, letting go of Harry and watching as he straightened his clothes.

"Swear it on Grangers life, Potter," he ordered, pointing his wand at him. Harry looked up at him and then Hermione.

"I'm not swearing anything on Hermione's life-"

"On her life Potter, right now-"

"Harry-"

"No, Malfoy. I'll give you my word, but I'm _not _swearing on her life-" Harry was cut off as Draco abandoned his wand and shoved Harry back forcefully into the wall.

"If you don't swear on _her _life, then that means you're not going to do it!" he shouted.

"Damn right I'm not if you're going to act like this!" Harry argued, putting his hands on Draco's shoulders and shoving him forcefully backwards, causing him to fall on his back painfully. Harry quickly pulled out his wand and pointed it at him whilst Draco looked at his own a few feet away. With one glance at Harry's face, Draco kicked him in the shin and made to grab his own wand. Harry kicked his hand away and then grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him onto his feet only to have Draco knock his wand out of his hand. It wasn't until Draco punched Harry in the face that the others decide to intervene – at exactly the same time.

"Both of you stop it, right now!" Hermione shouted, pointing her wand at Draco. Siobhan was pointing her own at Harry and both boys held up their hands to show they weren't fighting. Ron looked from one to the other, holding his bleeding nose, not daring to say anything but pulling his wand from his pocket to point it at Draco anyway.

"Harry _will _protect you, Draco. We all will," Hermione said, not lowering her wand.

"Bullshit he will. If he's not prepared to swear on your life then he doesn't mean it," Draco snapped. "Some repayment I get after going against everything and saving a Mudblood's life-" Harry yanked Ron's wand out of his hand and pointed it at Draco.

"Don't call her that Malfoy, or you can guarantee you won't have my protection," he growled, threateningly. "Now, you can take my word that if I _can _protect then I will, or you can go on threatening me and not believing me. It's your choice, Malfoy." Draco looked at each member of the Trio in turn and nodded.

"Fine, I can see I'm not going to get much better than that, but mark my words, Potter. If you let anything happen to me, I'll make you pay."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Six**

The first Quidditch Match of the term was announced at breakfast the following day and caused a lot of excitement for everyone. For most, the fact that they would get to see the new students play against Slytherin was exciting in itself. Of course, every house in the school – minus the Slytherin's – revelled in the fact that it wouldn't be their house that faced the Australians first, going headlong into an unknown battle. Doubtless the Captains of each of the House Quidditch teams would be observing the playing style of the new team and thinking up ways to beat them when their turn came around.

The students were surprised that the Match was announced with only a short amount of time for each of the teams to get in last minute practices. What with Hogsmeade this coming weekend and then the Match the weekend straight after, neither team would have much time at all.

There was also some talk among the students as to how the Match would turn out, what with the Captain of the Australian Quidditch team being in Slytherin _and _being the Seeker. She could easily throw the Match and win Slytherin the Cup for the year. There was no extra House for the Australians, so there would be nothing but her pride to make the Australians win. Most people knew that pride was enough for a true Slytherin to want to win something, but there was still doubt.

Draco scolded anyone that he heard talking about Siobhan like that in the corridors and it soon became a known fact that anyone caught bad-mouthing the new girl would be quickly set in their place and given a warning. No one dared question him, despite the fact that they knew he had no back up from his fellow Slytherin's, due to recent circumstances. Most people also didn't know that Draco wasn't talking to his father, and this only made them more scared of him. The majority of the student body of Hogwarts did their best to stay out of his way whenever they could and he would often smirk at the sight of the younger students scurrying away so that he wouldn't take anything out on them.

What with the fight he'd had with Harry in the corridor a few days prior, the only person who would talk to him without any form of hostility was Siobhan.

As he took his seat next to her at Dinner that evening, ignoring the glares sent his way by everyone else, he smirked and thanked whoever it was that had given him at least one person's pity and friendship.

"I haven't seen you all day," Siobhan commented. "Where have you been?"

Draco shrugged, "Warning people to stop bad-mouthing you-"

"I'm quite capable of looking after myself-"

"I never said you weren't. I just like doing it. Strikes fear into people's hearts again and makes them fear Malfoy's. That's the way it should be." Siobhan chucked and shook her head.

"So, Draco, I hope you're ready to get completely thrashed next weekend-"

"Oh, don't you wish?"

"Wish? There's no need to _wish_. I _know _I'm going to beat you-"

"We'll just see about that. Keep in mind that if I come anywhere _close _to outrunning you in a race for speed that I have an older, slower broom and am therefore much better at Quidditch than you are."

"Only a _bad _workman blames his tools, Malfoy."

"I'm not blaming my broom. I pointing out that when I _do _out-fly you, it'll be all the more satisfying knowing that my broom is slower than yours is. Maybe we should use the school provided ones to give us a fair chance-"

"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Siobhan cut in, smirking at his bad attempt at being subtle in trying to get her to give up her broom. "Well I most certainly _won't _be giving up my broom. If you can't keep up with me then that's your problem and I only hope the rest of your house will go easy on your failure-"

"You sure are cocky about the turn-out of this Match, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," she replied, picking up a piece of potato and lobbing it at his head.

----

Hogsmeade, being the other main concern of students at Hogwarts, everyone was making sure that they had someone to go with. Whether it just be friends or a partner, no one cared, as long as they weren't alone.

Ron had been fretting about it all morning. He hadn't plucked up enough courage to ask Aeryn to go with him, and knew that if he didn't soon, he would have run out of time and she might want to stay at the castle or go with her Australian friends. Finally giving in to the fact that he would have to ask her sooner or later if there was any hope of her saying yes, Ron decided he would corner her that afternoon in the corridor on the way back from dinner. Harry and Hermione had left earlier, going for their daily stroll around the lake and the rest of the students had already left to go to their dorms – sleeping to be up in time for lessons the next morning.

"As the Beater, it is your duty to knock Malfoy right of his broom-"

"Ron, I'm not going to hit him deliberately," she said, rolling her eyes and looking at the nasty bruise under his left eye that Draco had given him. "Even if he did hit you." Ron opened his mouth to protest, but one look from her shut him up and he sighed, defeated.

"Maybe if the opportunity arises then I will hit him because he's about to get the snitch, but I assure you, it will have nothing to do with reasons outside of Quidditch, so don't get excited _if _it happens." Ron seemed to brighten up at this news and he smiled again.

"So," Ron started, wringing his hands together nervously. "Are you going to Hogsmeade this weekend?" Aeryn looked round at him and shrugged.

"I don't know, I might," she replied. "Are you going with Harry and Hermione?"

"Oh, well, I was hoping that…uh…that you might want to come with me." Aeryn blushed and looked round at him as they came to stop in front of the portrait of the fat lady.

"You mean…on a date?"

"Well it doesn't have to be," Ron hurried to explain, still not catching her eye. "But I mean it would be nice, but you know…we could just go as friends if you want, I don't really mind. I was just hoping that you would come with me and not stay here by yourself. I mean, I wanted to show you the village and-"

"Ron," Aeryn interrupted, a hint of amusement in her voice. Ron chanced a look up at her to see her smirking and prepared himself for her to say that she didn't want to go with him. "You're rambling." His face turned scarlet and he looked away again, shuffling his feet nervously.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"I'd love you go to Hogsmeade with you." His head snapped up and he stared at her in disbelief.

"Y-you would?" he asked, incredulously. "Really?"

"Of course. After all, I owe you ten chocolate frogs, don't I?" she teased before giving the password to the fat lady and walking into the Common Room. Ron stayed outside for a few moments as a smile spread over his face and then hurried in after her.

----

"You and Hermione will be on your own at Hogsmeade this weekend," Ron said proudly, sitting beside his friends – ready for their Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.

"Why?" Harry asked. "Aren't you coming?"

"He's going with Aeryn," Hermione interrupted without looking up from the book she was reading. Ron's face dropped at his spoiled news and he slouched in his seat.

"How did you know?"

"Aeryn told me."

"When?"

"About twenty minutes after you'd asked her."

"Oh. Well did you have to ruin it for me? I wanted to tell Harry on my own."

"Sorry," Hermione apologised, putting her book down on the table. "But I thought you were going to start one of those guessing games where you keep telling Harry to guess what you were doing this weekend." Ron blushed, showing that he was obviously going to do just that. His sullen mood only disappeared when Aeryn put her books down beside him on the table, mockingly ruffling his hair. Before he'd had a chance to greet her, or before Harry had, had a chance to make any sarcastic remarks, Tonks had breezed into the class, closing the door behind her. All attention turned to her.

"Right, I apologise for the ruined lesson, but we have two visitors from the Ministry here today and they want to see how you are all learning." Here, her eyes flickered to Harry and she smiled apologetically. "They want to see two of you duel. I had no say in the matter and they've chosen the two duellists. Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy." The two seventh years looked round at each other and scowled, clearly not at all happy with the prospect of having to duel with each other so soon after their encounter in the corridor a few days ago. Before Harry could argue their choice, the door had opened again and two Ministry Officials had entered the room, walking to the front to stand beside Tonks.

"Knock his head off," Ron whispered.

"Ron!" Hermione hissed, while Aeryn slapped the back of his head to shut him up. Harry just shook his head and pulled his wand from his robes, strolling casually down to the front of the class, waiting for his opponent. Draco reluctantly climbed from his seat and went to stand in front of the Gryffindor.

"Should be fun, Potter, don't you think?" Draco hissed. "Hope you're not holding any hostility towards me after those jibes about Granger."

"You have no bloody idea, Malfoy," Harry whispered back.

"On my count," one of the Officials said. "1…2…3…Go!" Harry got in the first spell, sending Draco crashing backwards into the wall. His second spell was deflected and Draco sent back one of his own. Instead of using a spell to block it, Harry levitated a table into its path and covered his face as it smashed into small pieces, showing everyone with splinters.

"You're not meant to be destroying the class, Potter," Draco sneered. "At least _try _to hurt me."

"Don't threaten me Malfoy. You have no idea how much I want to hurt you right now," Harry growled, the two of them oblivious to the rest of the class watching them.

"I'd like to see you try, Potter."

"Just remember, Malfoy," he said, throwing another chair at the Slytherin. "I destroyed the Dark Lord, so you'd be no difficult task." The two of them sent a spell at each other in perfect timing, and they clashed in mid air, exploding in a green fire. Harry turned his head away from the heat and Draco used it to his advantage, knocking Harry off his feet with a well aimed spell. His wand flew out of his hand and landed a few feet away, out of his reach. Instead of trying to get to it, he put his attention into dodging the things Draco was dropping around him, obviously aiming for his head, or some other vital part of his body.

"How many Crucio spells can you take, Potter?" he asked, curiously as he threw one of the empty chairs across the classroom at Harry's head.

"Why? Planning to use it? You don't have enough backbone to do that, Malfoy-"

"What about Weasley or Granger? How many can they take?"

"You stay away from the both of them. I've given my word to protect you, Malfoy, but you can go screw yourself if you do anything to her." Ron scowled when he heard Harry mention Hermione and not him, but decided not to make things worse by making something of it. The Ministry Officials looked slightly horrified and Ron guessed that this probably wouldn't go down too well with them or the _Daily Prophet_.

"You've got a bit of a soft spot for Granger, don't you Potter?"

"I'm warning you, Malfoy, don't go near her," Harry threatened, dodging another object that was hurled at him.

"Question is though," Draco continued, enjoying himself to much to stop. "Would you shag her if you had a chance?" At this, Harry stopped dead and glared at the Slytherin. The table that had been flying through the air towards him changed direction and flew back at Malfoy, who had to duck rather quickly to avoid being hit. Ron and Hermione both rose from their seats, not sure what was going on but having a bad feeling about at the same. Tonks seemed to notice their sudden change in attitude towards this battle and stepped forward, ready to stop the two fighting. They seemed to have no intention of doing so, however.

"_Don't _talk about her like that, Malfoy, because you _will _regret it."

"So you _would _shag her then?" He barely got the sentence out before he was thrown backwards into the wall again and held there. His wand hung limply in his hand and he was unable to move it enough to defend himself.

"Harry, Draco, stop!" Tonks cried, pulling out her own wand, ready to stun them if they disobeyed – which they did. Knowing Tonks was getting no where, Hermione jumped out of her seat and ran forward, pushing Harry to the floor and sending the spell he had aimed at Draco flying in the wrong direction. Draco dropped to the floor, drawing in deep lung-fulls of air.

"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione asked, kneeling down next to him. Ron rushed up to stand behind her and he looked up at the two of them, a look of confusion spread across his face. "Harry?"

"I uh…I'm fine," he stuttered, looking round at the near destroyed classroom and then at Draco on the floor. His eyes darkened and Hermione quickly pulled his head round to look at them instead of Draco.

"C-class dismissed," Tonks said, hurrying the students out of the door. Hermione and Ron helped Harry into a chair while Siobhan helped Draco to sit upright. Aeryn hung back uncertainly.

"What the hell was that?" Draco demanded, looking at Tonks. The Ministry Officials stood at the back of the classroom and Tonks looked at them uncertainly before turning to the Trio.

"Has anything like this happened before?"

"Only during the Final Battle," Hermione replied and then stopped, looking curiously at Harry.

"When Voldemort was trying to hurt Hermione," Ron finished off. "Harry was being held by a few Death Eaters, but he knocked them all of in one go and shot a volley of curses at Him."

"You should probably talk to Professor McGonagall or Remus about this-"

"But it's just wandless magic, isn't it?" Ron asked. "There's nothing wrong about wandless magic-"

"Like I said," Tonks interrupted, sternly nodding towards the Ministry Officials. "Talk to Professor McGonagall about it."

"But she's not here-"

"She'll be back after Hogsmeade. Talk to her about it then."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Seven**

Draco stood in the Entrance Hall with the other students who were old enough to go to Hogsmeade, shuffling his feet. He could see Harry and Hermione over the other side of the room and kept sending – and receiving – hostile glares.

He looked back round in the direction to Slytherin Common Room and smiled when he saw Siobhan making her way through the crowd towards him. Wiping his sweaty palms on his trousers, Draco cursed himself for feeling so nervous about the day ahead. He was Draco Malfoy, he shouldn't fell this awkward around a girl.

"Hi, Draco," Siobhan greeted, standing on tip-toes to kiss his cheek. To his complete and utter horror, this made him blush.

"Uh…are you ready to go? Most people have already left," he said, trying his best not to stumble over the words. Siobhan suppressed a grin at his nervous demeanour and nodded, linking her arm through his.

----

Ron rushed down the stairs to the entrance hall to find Aeryn, Harry and Hermione already there waiting for him. He slowed down as he got closer and smiled when they turned to look at him.

"Finally woken up, have you?" Harry asked, smirking at the blush that spread across his face.

"I've been awake for ages," he objected.

"Sure you have, mate. We ready to go?" Everyone nodded and the four of them set off towards Hogsmeade, sure to keep a safe distance away from Draco and Siobhan. When the Trio had asked Aeryn what they knew about Draco's new 'friend' all she had got out was that her parents were Death Eaters. That was all Ron needed to hear before deciding he disliked her almost as much as Malfoy.

The walk to Hogsmeade didn't take that long and as soon as they got there the four of them split into twos and went their separate ways.

"So, what do you want to do first?" Ron asked, rubbing his hands together and looking around the village.

"I've never been to Hogsmeade before, Ron," Aeryn reminded him.

"Right," he replied, blushing slightly. "Let's go to Honeydukes. Sweet shop."

"I'll warn you in advance," she said as he dragged her along. "I don't like chocolate."

----

Draco dragged Siobhan into Hog's Head, getting them a table at the back of the pub so they wouldn't be disturbed. The last thing he wanted was Blaise coming in through the door and ruining the whole date – if you could even call it that.

Everyone seemed to know who it was, sitting at that table in the furthest corner of the room – and none of the waiters seemed to want to come over and serve them for this reason. Draco got tired of waiting after almost an hour and stormed up to the bar, demanding for someone to come and serve them within the next five minutes before he hexed them. It didn't even take two for the waitress to appear at their table.

Being only lunch time, the two of them didn't order much, both settling for sandwiches, which the waitress promised would be there within ten minutes. Draco had his doubts about that. Their drinks arrived quickly however and he was amazed to discover that Firewhiskey wasn't a common drink in Australia.

"Don't drink too much," Draco warned, sipping his own as Siobhan finished her glass. "It all goes to your head rather fast and you'll have a killer headache when you wake up in the morning."

"It'll be your fault," she replied, smiling and calling the waitress over again. "You introduced the drink to me."

"Hmm…I suppose it would," he smirked, glaring scathingly at the woman who was serving them. She didn't look at all happy to be standing there and was clearly rather scared at the prospect of being anywhere near Draco Malfoy. Though he couldn't understand why. Everyone acted as if he would jump up at any second and send a Killing Curse in their direction, and it was getting annoying.

"How long will our food take?" he asked as she was about to walk off.

Turning back round with a sigh, she replied with an impatient tone to her voice, "In a few minutes."

"It had better be," Draco muttered. He wasn't sure whether she'd heard, but the hateful look she sent in his direction indicated that she probably had.

"So, just what do you plan to do all day?" Siobhan asked, leaning across the table so that she could hear his answer better in the crowded pub. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever the pretty lady wants."

"That depends what the village has to offer," she replied.

"Oh lots," he said, leaning forward in his chair with his elbows on the table. "There's a _very _romantic tea shop called Madam Pudfoots, although I'd personally rather die than set foot in it. Then of course we have Zonko's joke shop, which I'm sure you'll find amusing, so maybe we'll drop in there. The Shrieking Shack is also another building unique to this Village-"

"What is it?" Siobhan asked, curiously.

"It's a haunted house," he replied, smirking at the sour look on her face at his answer. "Not with 'see through ghosts or anything', but I suppose when you know the reason behind it all, it looses its magic-"

"Are you going to tell me, or are you enjoying teasing me?"

"I'm enjoying teasing you. I'll take you up there, scare you and _then _I'll tell you why people think it's haunted. Don't go and try finding out for yourself and ruining the surprise though." Siobhan rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, taking the new glass of Firewhiskey she had, with her.

"Of course," Draco continued. "If all else fails and nothing seems to amuse you, we could always terrorise the new third years. Strike fear into their hearts and all that crap. I'm sure that will be fun."

"You're such a cruel bastard," Siobhan chuckled, shaking her head.

"But you love me for it."

----

Ron and Aeryn came out of Honeydukes ten minutes later, the former stocked with enough sweets to last him the rest of the month.

"I can't believe you don't like chocolate," Ron said, looking down at her. "That's just not normal." Aeryn rolled her eyes and pulled something from her coat pocket, handing it to him.

"Your ten chocolate frogs, as promised."

"I – you didn't really have to buy them," Ron said, taking the bag from her and blushing. "It was just a joke."

"I know, but I thought I owed that much to you. From what I've heard, you haven't spent as much time in the Library in six years that you have with me in the last month or so." Ron's face continued to burn a bright red and he looked down at the floor, sheepishly.

"Well, I enjoyed spending time in the Library while you were there." Now it was Aeryn's turn to blush and Ron smiled.

"So, what do you want to do next?" he asked.

"Anything that doesn't include you spending some ridiculous amount of money on my behalf," she replied, sternly. Ron's face fell and he looked hurt for a moment.

"You don't have to buy me something for me to have a good time, Ron."

"Well, I know, but I wanted to buy you a present or something-"

"That's what Christmas and Birthday's are for." Ron sighed, defeated and nodded his head.

"I can't promise I won't buy you _anything_, but I promise it won't be too expensive."

"I can see I'm not going to get much better than that."

Ron smirked, "No, you're not." Aeryn rolled her eyes and looked around the village, trying to decide where they should go next. The decision was made for him.

"Hello little bro." Ron and Aeryn turned round to find the Weasley twins standing behind them, smiling. Ron suppressed a groan as he looked between his brothers, knowing already that this was going to be a painful experience.

----

"How long do you think I'll have to put up with Ron going on about his day this time?" Harry questioned, leading Hermione to the small green at the edge of the village.

"Don't be so mean," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "It's not often _Ronniekins _gets a date, and when he does it's usually with some unbelievably obnoxious bimbo-"

"Hermione!" Harry gasped at her use of language. Heaven fore-bid Hermione Granger should swear.

"I'm just saying!" she defended. "At least Aeryn actually knows the difference between left and right." Harry chuckled and shook his head.

"I think Ron and I have been a bit of a bad influence on you."

"Hmm…I think you have," she replied, dragging him down onto the grass and laying on her back. Harry lay down next to her and closed his eyes, thanking the Lord that it was such a nice day.

"How come _you_ don't have a date?" Hermione asked, turned her head to look at him.

"I do," he replied, cracking open an eye and smiling.

"You know what I mean."

"Yes, I do and like I said, my date is lying right next to me." He watched as Hermione's cheeks turned a faint pink and then, satisfied with himself, closed both his eyes again.

"You didn't want to come with Ginny?" Hermione questioned. Harry's eyes snapped open to find her leaning above him.

"Why would I want to come to Hogsmeade with Ginny?"

"Because she's under the impression that since Voldemort is gone, you'll ask her to go out with you again." Harry leaned up on his elbows, trying to ignore the close proximity to his best friend.

"But…I never said I would ask her out after-"

"You told her that you couldn't be together because it made her a target for Voldemort. She thinks it means you'd get back together afterwards."

"Bollocks," Harry cursed, throwing himself back down on the grass. He heard Hermione laugh above him and then felt her lay her head on his chest.

"Why are girls so confusing?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her closer. Hermione snuggled into his chest, closing her eyes and smiling.

"We like to keep you guys on your toes."

"Hmm. You're not though," he added as an afterthought. "I always know what you're thinking. Well, most of the time anyway."

"And that's a good thing?"

"Definitely."

"What am I thinking then?" she asked. Harry opened his eyes and looked down at her head on his chest. He watched it rise and fall as he breathed and then suddenly, due to his lack of response, Hermione turned her head to meet his gaze.

"Harry?" He smiled as she said his name and then brought his hand up to stroke her cheek. Her breath caught in her throat and she closed her eyes again.

"Harry-"

"Shhh," he whispered, bringing his finger down to her lips, knowing that if she had a chance to talk, she would talk them out of what they were doing – what exactly _were _they doing? "Don't talk." He smiled when she slowly nodded her head and then moved his hand back to her cheek, stroking it gently. Slowly and unsurely, he moved his head closer, using his free arm to keep himself up. He didn't know whether Hermione knew what he was doing with her eyes closed, but as soon as he was close enough for her to feel her breath mingling with his, he heard her breathing become shallower. He closed his eyes, and moved closer so that their mouths were inches apart and their noses brushing together.

"Harry!" His eyes snapped open at exactly the same time as Hermione's and the two of them looked straight into each others eyes, the impact of what they were about to do coming crashing down on them. Hermione quickly pulled away from his embrace, her face the most incredible shade of red Harry had every seen.

After slowing his breathing down a little, Harry turned to find the source of the voice and groaned when he saw Ginny rushing towards him.

_Wonderful timing, Ginny, _he thought, sourly. _Absolutely bloody wonderful_.

----

"Here we are," Draco announced, pulling Siobhan through the last bush nearest the Shrieking Shack.

"And…it's supposed to be scary?" she asked, scathingly.

"When we get inside, it'll be scarier-"

"Inside?"

"Not scared, are you?" he called over his shoulder, already on the path that lead to the abandoned house. He was sure he heard her mutter the words, 'you wish' under her breath and he smiled, rushing ahead so that he would get to the house before her.

When she finally reached the front door, he was nowhere in sight.

"Draco?" Siobhan stood outside the open door for a moment, waiting for a response and then slowly walked through, looking around to make sure Draco wouldn't jump out from anywhere and scare the life out of her. When she was sure he wasn't going to, she walked over to the stairs and began to climb, ignoring the unhealthy creaking sound they made as she put her full weight on them.

"Draco?" Once again there was no reply and she checked the room ahead of her to make sure he wasn't in there. He wasn't. All the room contained was a small rocking chair that had been ripped to shreds by God only knows what.

"This isn't funny, you know," she called, looking in another one of the other rooms and in the cupboard beside her. They were both empty. She was about to go back downstairs when she heard the floorboards creek behind her, making her whip round to find the source of the noise. As much as she hated to admit it, she was a little freaked out. Whether it was from being alone in the house with Draco lurking around ready to jump out at any second, or whether is was because of the stories he'd been annoying her with all morning, she didn't know. She just wished he would come out.

"Alright, you scared me, can we leave now?" she called, pulling her coat tighter around herself, even though it wasn't really that cold. When she got no reply, she walked towards the only room she hadn't checked, hoping that he would be in there and they could go. The doors were both closed and she gently pushed them open, looking around the room. This one wasn't empty. There was a piano in the corner, that looked like it had been out of use for decades and a bed that looked like it would fall apart at any second.

The floorboards creaked behind her again and she whirled round in time to see Draco jump out of a hidden cupboard. She wasn't at all prepared to catch his weight and the two of them fell back onto the bed.

"You're such an idiot!" Siobhan cried, opening her eyes and glaring at him.

"I thought you said you wouldn't get scared," he replied, cockily.

"I didn't think you were going to jump out of a cupboard at me!" Draco smiled and let go of her arms that he had pinned to the bed as they had fallen, resting on his elbows either side of her head.

"You know," he mused, smirking. "You're cute when you're angry."

"You've got some nerve you know," she said, trying to keep an angry tone in her voice and to ignore the blood roaring through her ears.

"Oh, and why is that?" he asked, resting his forehead against hers.

"B-because you can't expect to scare someone half to death and then have them react well to being hit on-"

"Yes I can," he whispered, crushing his lips onto hers. After a few attempts to get him off, none of which she actually expected – or wanted – to be successful, Siobhan kissed him back. Neither of them were sure how long the kiss lasted, but the need for air soon became a necessity and they pulled away, both breathing heavily. Draco lowered his head for another kiss but Siobhan pushed him away.

"If you think for one second, Draco Malfoy that I am going to make out with you on some shitty old bed, then you are seriously mistaken." Draco smirked and jumped off the bed, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet.

----

"So," Fred started, folding his arms and smirking.

"Who's your new friend?" George finished, imitating his brothers stance.

"_Girl_friend-"

"She's not-"

"When were you going to tell us, hmm?"

"Or were you planning to keep it a secret-"

"-until you got married-"

"-and had three kids?" Both the twins stood there with smug looks on their faces.

"Uh…we're not…dating," Ron said, shaking his head. Fred and George looked at Ron, then Aeryn and then at each other.

"Denial," they chorused, smiling.

"When are you going to learn, Ron?"

"Denying your feelings is no way to go about things," Fred added, smiling and wrapping his arm around Ron. George smirked and walked over to Aeryn who watched him warily, already blushing.

"So, what's her name Ron?"

"She can talk for herself, George-"

"Could you both just go away?" Ron snapped, shrugging his brother off.

"Ungrateful thing, isn't he?" George whispered to Aeryn. "Careful, he snores, you'll get no sleep-"

"Bugger off!" Ron cried, a pleading tone in his voice that he tried desperately to hide.

"We're just informing Aeryn on what she's letting herself in for," Fred defended.

"Wouldn't want her going headlong into a marriage and regretting it later-"

"We're not getting bloody married!" Ron argued, his face turning red from embarrassment and anger.

Fred chuckled and grabbed one of Ron's sweets before continuing, "Whatever you say, bro."

"Just make sure he buys you a ring-"

"-and proposes properly-"

"-and is romantic enough to keep you busy on your honeymoon-"

"Go AWAY!" Ron snapped. Fred and George both rolled their eyes and began to walk off.

"Don't forget to send us an invitation to the wedding-"

"-and we expect to be Uncles soon!" As soon as they were out of sight, Ron growled in annoyance and sunk down onto the bench behind him, muttering under his breath about how he wanted to kill both the twins. Aeryn sat down next to him and pulled one of his hands away to look at his face.

"Don't worry about it, I've had worse from my brothers, trust me," she reassured.

"Sorry," Ron mumbled, looking up at her. "I didn't know they'd be here."

"Honesty it's alright. Now, what do you want to do next?"

----

"Hey, Harry," Ginny said, near enough pushing Hermione out of the way so that she could sit next to him.

"Uh…Hi, Ginny," Harry replied, grimacing and looking over at Hermione. He hoped Ginny hadn't been close enough to see what they were doing before she'd arrived. Who _knew _what sort of chaos _that _would cause?

"I haven't seen you all day, Harry," Ginny continued. He noted that she didn't say hello to Hermione. "I was waiting for you in the Entrance Hall."

Thinking that 'I was trying to avoid you' would go down badly, Harry replied with an, "Oh were you? I never saw you there."

"I called you."

_I was ignoring you, _Harry thought sourly. "Sorry, didn't hear you."

"Well it doesn't matter, you've found me now-"

"Actually, Ginny…I'm uh…I'm here with Hermione," he interrupted. He felt Ginny tense at his side and watched as she turned to look round at Hermione.

"As a _date_?" she asked, a hint of amusement in her voice that suggested she thought anyone going out with Hermione must be blind or deaf – or both. Hermione blushed and looked away, not wanting to get caught up in an argument.

Seeing that she was about to open her mouth and tell Ginny they were not on a date, Harry interrupted, "Yes. On a date."

"Oh." Ginny glared at Hermione and then stood up, glaring at Harry. She left without a word. The only thought running through Harry's head was how much Ron would want to kill him for upsetting Ginny.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N – I know that this is NOTHING like my other fics, but I think I told you that at the beginning. If not then I should have. **

**I'm writing this for my friend, so basically anything she says goes. Which means the characters all have to act a bit differently. I know, and knew when I uploaded it that you may not like it, but sorry. It's the only way I can get the story to some of my friends when the printer has died and they're not around for me to send it to them. **

**I mean, if you really don't like it and can't read it, then don't. I'm not forcing you to…**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Eight**

Come Monday, no one could really be bothered to go to lessons, but were faced with a detention if there was no plausible reason for their absence.

Ron had either decided to ignore what had happened between Harry and Ginny at Hogsmeade or hadn't heard about it, and Harry wasn't really too keen to bring it up. Hermione had been unusually quiet since the incident, and Harry vowed to ask her about that some time.

"It's too early!" Ron's voice carried across the Hall as he buried his head in his arms and attempted once again to go to sleep. Aeryn slapped him round the back of the head and he glared at her mockingly.

"You shouldn't go to bed so late-"

"It wouldn't matter if Ron went to bed at seven in the evening," Harry replied, smirking. "He _still _wouldn't be able to get up for eight the next morning-"

"I would!" Ron objected, forcing himself to keep his eyes open enough to join in the conversation.

"You believe that if it makes you happy." Ron was about to reply with a snide remark, when his voice was cut out by the shriek of owls as the morning post arrived. Harry moved his bowl out of the way, ready for the barrage of fan-mail he knew he was about to get, seeing as it was the beginning of the week. Sure enough, the table was soon full of envelopes decorated with hearts and kisses and Ron groaned, knowing he'd have to help sift through them later on to find out what was junk and what was his real mail. Getting what little enjoyment he could before lessons started, he picked up the top letter on the pile.

"Excuse me!" Harry objected, making a dive for it. "I never said you could read that. It might be important-"

"It's addressed to 'The Most Wonderful Wizard in the World', mate. It hardly sounds important." Harry rolled his eyes and resigned himself to the fact that – whether he liked it or not – Ron was going to read the letter out loud.

Clearing his throat, Ron began, "Dear Beloved – I think that's a wonderful start, by the way, grabs your attention straight away-"

"Ron," Harry growled, threateningly.

"Sorry. Dear Beloved – It changes to capitals here – I want to have your babies-" Harry leaned across the table and snatched the letter out of his best friends hands, his face turning slightly red.

"I love your fan-mail," Ron chuckled. "It's the fact they start off the letters properly before asking if you'll sleep with them and be the Father of their child. Of course, they're much more _forward _than that-"

"I'm glad _you're_ amused-"

"Is that a howler?" Aeryn interrupted, picking up one of the letters as Harry started putting them into his bag. This made him stop and he looked up as she took it. Hermione even looked up at that, surprised.

"Who would be sending you a Howler?" Ron questioned taking the letter from Aeryn and looking at it. "It's address to 'The-Boy-Who-Conquered'." Harry frowned and took the letter as it was handed to him, examining the writing to see if he could recognise it. He couldn't.

"Maybe we should leave the Hall before we open it," Hermione suggested, speaking for the first time that morning. Harry made to agree with her, when the letter began to smoke, indicating that he would _never _make it out in time without the letter exploding in his face.

Ignoring the protests of Ron and Hermione, Harry tore open the letter and then jumped as it transformed itself into the shape of a mouth. Even though it was only a piece of paper, it was clearly twisted into an angry snarl, small fangs protruding on either side.

"Harry Potter," the letter stated. Harry froze, recognising the voice immediately. Ron and Hermione recognised it too and the former almost fell out of his chair, whilst Hermione's face turned completely pale. Harry gripped the table as the voice continued.

"Long time no speak, Potter. It was unfortunate that you presumably destroyed me when you did. I had great plans for the two of us." The letter wasn't shouting. It was barely even raising its voice. Harry doubted the students over the other side of the Hall would even be able to hear it. But, it had the exact effect its sender had wanted it to. The Trio were terrified.

"However, I don't think I'll be following through with any of those plans now. I must say though, that between you, your Blood-traitor of a friend and that pathetic Mudblood girl you associate yourself with, you did a good job of hunting down those Horcruxes. Honestly, Harry, I didn't think you'd be able to do it.

"Be warned though, Harry. I'll have my revenge for my defeat. Everyone you love will fall with you Harry Potter – or before you to be more precise. That way you can watch them all suffer before I kill you." Harry clenched his jaw, angrily and gripped the table tighter, glaring at the letter and hoping that this was all some ridiculous joke one of the Slytherin's had come up with.

"And the first one to go will be you Mudblood _friend_," the voice continued, spitting the last word out as if it actually hurt them.

"I'll make you watch as she begs for her life and is slowly driven insane by the countless Crucio's I will place on her. Then, Harry, you will watch as the light slowly drains from her eyes-" Without even waiting for the letter to finish, Harry wrapped his hand around it and then slammed it down onto the table, not wanting to hear anymore. Hermione, Ron and Aeryn all jumped in surprise at the abrupt ending and the sound of Harry's fist hitting the table. Hermione was about to say something, when the letter – still wrapped in Harry's hand – began to smoke. Her eyes widened when she realised that it wasn't actually smoking and that it was on fire and she looked up at Harry to see tears in his eyes as he glared at his hand. The other was gripping the table so hard that his knuckle had turned white.

"Harry, let go of it," Ron warned, looking at it worriedly. Harry didn't listen straight away, holding onto the letter as long as he could before the pain became too much and forced him to let go. What remained of the letter suddenly burst into flame and fell to the table as a pile of ash.

Harry cradled his burnt hand, and without giving anyone a chance to say anything, he grabbed his bag and jumped up from the table, storming out of the Hall. Hermione, Ron and Aeryn looked round at each other before hurriedly following him. They ran into Blaise at the door, but stormed through his 'gang' without so much as word.

"Harry!" Hermione called, quickening her pace to keep up with him. He didn't stop, or make any indication that he had, in fact, heard her.

"Harry, would you just stop for a second?" she pleaded, almost running to keep up with him now. She could hear Ron and Aeryn trailing behind her and a few students whispering to their left. She ignored them all, dumped her bag on the floor and darted forward to grab Harry's arm, spinning him round to face her. The blazing glare in his eyes instantly made her let go and take a step back. It disappeared as quickly as it had come though and Harry closed his eyes, sucking in a deep breath to calm his breathing.

"Are you alright?" she asked, cautiously – then mentally scolded herself for asking such a stupid question. Of course he wasn't alright.

"Fine," he replied, attempting to take off again. Hermione just managed to grab his wrist and pull him back towards her before he was out of reach.

"Let go of me," he pleaded, tears welling up in his eyes again.

"Harry-"

"I'll be damned if I'm going to let myself cry in front of a bunch of students, who will undoubtedly go and let the Daily Prophet know," he hissed. Hermione looked round at the small crowd they had gathered and she quickly caught Ron's eye. He seemed to get the message and ordered the students standing around to 'piss off and mind their own business'. They grumbled, but did as they were told, each going their separate ways.

When she was sure everyone had left, Hermione continued, "Harry, t-that was a hoax, he couldn't have…" Her voice trailed off as she grasped from the right words.

"The Horcruxes," she finished as if that would explain everything. Harry seemed to understand though and he blinked back tears.

"Hermione, no one can impersonate that voice. It's _beyond _human-"

"They're wizards, Harry. There are spells that can do that," Hermione protested. "It's just the Death Eaters, trying to scare you-"

"Speaking of which," Ron interrupted, holding a letter up. "This was the same handwriting, address to 'The-Boy-Who-Conquered." Harry grabbed the letter as it was tossed to him and opened it, quickly scanning his eyes over what had been written.

"It's just everything the howler said," he replied, shaking his head and screwing the letter up in his hand.

"Harry…please believe me," Hermione said, trying to catch his gaze. "That was _not _Him. It can't have been. We got rid of him, remember-"

"How could I forget?" he asked, sardonically.

"Please look at me." Harry blinked back a few more tears before obeying the wishes of his best friend, looking directly into her eyes.

"Now listen. That. Was. Not. Him. I _promise _you. There is no way he could have come back-"

"They want to kill you," Harry whispered. Hermione noted that he'd said 'they' and not 'He'. Taking this as a sign that he'd accepted the fact that it _was_ the Death Eater's trying to scare him, she smiled.

"Voldemort tried to kill me, and he didn't succeed. Lucius Malfoy and his band of losers aren't going to do any better," she replied.

"Because I won't let them," Harry stated. The smile fell from Hermione's face when she saw how serious he was about what he was saying and she slowly nodded.

"I know you won't." Harry nodded too and she pulled him into a hug, smiling as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. They stayed like that for a few moments, before Harry opened his eyes and looked up upon hearing voices carry around the corner. When he saw who it was, he let go of Hermione and stormed up to the Slytherin, crabbing his collar and slamming him painfully into the wall.

"What the _hell _are you doing, Potter?" Draco demanded, trying – and failing – to push him away.

"Do you know anything about your Dad, escaping from Azkaban?" Harry questioned, glaring at him.

"Let go of me-"

"Do you know anything about it, Malfoy-"

"What makes you think _I'd _know anything? I gave up that part of my life when I turned traitor for _you_. Look where _that's _gotten me! Every Slytherin – bar _one _– in the school ignores me. Everyone thinks I'm trying to become the next Dark Lord, alongside you. I've been disowned and my parents want me dead. Now I'll ask _you _again, Potty. What makes you think I'd know anything about the Azkaban escape?"

"Merlin help you if you know something and aren't telling me, Malfoy. I'll kill you myself," Harry threatened, letting go of him and watching as he straightened his robes.

"All I know is that they're after you, they're after me and they're after _her_," he said, pointing at Hermione. "You promise me right now that you'll protect me, like you wouldn't the other day, and then maybe I'll know more."

"Malfoy-"

"Blaise will be gloating about it," Draco informed him. "If you want me to tell you what I find out, then I want you to swear on Granger's life that you'll protect me-"

"I told you about this last time-"

"It's a fair bargain, Potter, and I'm not one to do them. You either want my help or you don't. All I ask is that you protect me if you can." The two of them stared each other down for a moment or two before Hermione came up behind Harry and slid her hand into his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"He swears, Malfoy-"

"I didn't-"

"Excellent," Draco said in the most gleeful voice a Slytherin could manage. "You'll have your information tomorrow." Harry glared hatefully at his retreating back.

"And Potter," Draco added, without turning around. "I'd go see McGonagall about that wandless magic of yours. Rather dangerous if you ask me-"

"I don't need your advice, Malfoy." The blond haired Slytherin shrugged.

"Just trying to be helpful."

----

Harry _did _go and see McGonagall later that day – he'd been planning to ever since Tonks mentioned it. Ron and Aeryn stayed back in the Common Room, while Hermione went along with him.

Apparently, McGonagall had been expecting him as the Gargoyle was open, which meant they wouldn't need a password to get up there. Harry knocked on the door cautiously, not wanting to interrupt in case she was already talking to someone. She wasn't.

"I was expecting you, Mr. Potter," she said, looking over her glasses at him and shifting in her chair. Harry closed the door behind the two of them and then walked with Hermione to the Headmistress' desk.

"I suppose Tonks told you what happened in Defence Against the Dark Arts?" he asked, sheepishly.

"_Professor_ Tonks," McGonagall corrected. Harry smiled – remembering Dumbledore constantly doing the same thing to him last year. "And yes, she's told me about your duel with Mr. Malfoy."

"I uh…was wondering whether you knew what happened-"

"You mean you don't know?" she asked, leaning forward in her chair. Harry shook his head.

"I was hoping you would, Professor."

"I'm afraid I can't tell you what it is, Harry." Harry's face fell and he looked hopelessly at Hermione.

"Would there be anything in the library about it, Professor?" Hermione questioned, making Harry smile. Trust Hermione to be the one to come up with a solution that would involve the library.

"There might be," McGonagall replied, cutting his thoughts off. "But it will undoubtedly be in the restricted section. If I am to give you permission to use it, I trust you won't abuse the privilege."

"Of course not, Professor."

"Very well then." Picking up two pieces of paper from her desk, and her taking her wand from her robe, McGonagall produces two passes that they were to give to Madam Prince upon each visit to the library. The two of them thanked her and hurried out of the room.

Harry was going to ask Hermione about Hogsmeade, and had been meaning to since the beginning of the day, but he chickened out at the last moment, and the two walked back to Gryffindor Common Room in silence.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Nine**

While Draco Malfoy was not usually one to keep promises to people, he knew he would have to keep his one to Harry if he still wanted his protection. So, true to his word, Draco was planning to spy on Blaise that night. All that remained to work out was how exactly he was going to do that without being too obvious about it and without Blaise stopping talking the second he was spotted. He thought that his best bet would to be to hide on the stairs leading up to the Boys Dormitory and hope that Blaise would sit close enough for him to hear what was being said.

He had also hoped that with Siobhan being at the Library, he wouldn't have to explain to her why he was risking being beaten up to spy on Blaise, but his hopes were dashed when she walked in through the Common Room Portrait. He made a valiant attempt at hiding behind his book, but being the only seventh year, blond haired boy in Slytherin, she spotted him in a heartbeat.

"Hiding from me for any particular reason?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him when he lowered his book to look at her.

"I was not," he replied, indignantly. Siobhan looked at him in a way that clearly said she didn't believe him before shrugging and sitting down in the chair opposite him. Draco closed his book in time to see Blaise descending the stairs into the Common Room. He cursed under his breath and pulled Siobhan back out of the chair, dragging her behind one of the stone pillars

"What are you-"

"Shush," he ordered, more firmly than he had meant to. Siobhan looked hurt for a moment, but when she saw the apology written on his face, she rolled her eyes and said no more.

"Out," a voice ordered from behind the pillar. There was a startled yelp from a few of the First Year Slytherins as they hurried to do as they were told, not wanting to be on the receiving end of a nasty curse. Draco was glad that Blaise was dense enough to not think that anyone would be spying on him and to get someone to check behind the pillar. He didn't want to think of the consequences of Blaise finding him standing there. No doubt his Father would be the first to know, and anyone with half a brain cell would know that Draco probably wouldn't live to see the end of the school year.

"As I was saying," Blaise started, obviously continuing from an earlier conversation.

"Draco's Father will be taking charge of the Death Eaters-"

"All of them?" another voice interrupted, one which Draco instantly recognised as Pansy Parkinson's.

"No," Blaise replied somewhat impatiently. "Just the ones who escaped from Azkaban. My Father says that those who didn't go to Azkaban from the Dark Lord aren't worth of the title of 'Death Eater'."

_That_, Draco thought sourly. _Or they're just far more intelligent than our Fathers. _He looked at Siobhan as she smirked, unsure why she was doing so. She'd obviously come to the same conclusion as him.

"Have you heard about-"

"Not here," Blaise snapped. Draco guessed he was looking round anxiously for any students trying to overhear their conversation.

"No one would dare spy on us, Blaise. They know we're in contact with the Death Eaters-"

"You idiot," Blaise hissed. "I told you never to say that out loud. That's how you end up getting yourself killed; by being careless-"

"Oh cool off. I could understand your concern if we were talking about this in the Great Hall, but we're in Slytherin Common Room. We're all Slytherins. What are they going to do? Run to Potter?" There was a silence for a moment indicating that Blaise was either contemplating hexing the boy in front of him or actually taking into consideration what had been said. Obviously taking the silence as an agreement, the boy continued.

"You think they'll let us watch when they torture Granger-"

"I told you to SHUT UP!" Blaise roared, jumping from his seat in a fit of rage. The anger in his voice seemed to persuade the boy to stop, and an uneasy silence descended on the Common Room.

"I've been told to tell you, however, that we're expected to come up with a list of any Slytherin's who will be willing to serve Lucius Malfoy. Now, don't say anything more about this and don't breathe a word of it to anyone." There group fell into an easy conversation and Draco suddenly realised that the two of them wouldn't be able to get out from their hiding place until Blaise decided to leave. Since dinner had just passed, that could be some time away. Not that he minded, of course. Being stuck in between the wall and a pillar with a girl was hardly a form of torture.

"What now, genius?" Siobhan hissed, making sure to speak just as Blaise laughed so that her voice wouldn't be heard. Draco smirked and shrugged.

"We wait until they leave," he replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, which in a way, it was.

"Not to be rude or anything, but standing behind a pillar with you for the next hour or so is hardly my idea of fun-"

"Not even if I do this?" he asked, seconds before his lips came crashing down onto hers. She let out a surprised gasp at his boldness and he took his chance to deepen the kiss.

"Fun enough for you?" he whispered when they finally pulled away.

"Mnm, you'll have to do it again," she replied, smirking. "Just to be sure."

"Don't mind if I do."

----

"Remind me why we're doing this again?" Aeryn asked from under the cover of Harry's invisibility cloak, which she thought was the best wizarding invention she'd ever come across.

"Because I missed dinner," he replied, shrugging. "And I'm hungry." Aeryn rolled her eyes, but smiled. It was the middle of the night and they were on their way to the kitchens because Ron had gotten himself in trouble and had missed most of dinner. By the time he had gotten there, the only things that were left to have were a few cakes and strawberries for dessert. As punishment for laughing at him – and because he didn't want to go alone – Ron had dragged Aeryn along with him for a midnight treat. As with Hermione, Aeryn hadn't wanted to get into trouble for sneaking around after hours, so Ron had begged to borrow Harry's invisibility cloak with the promise that nothing bad would happen to it.

"Here were are," he announced, looking down the corridor and whipping the cloak off over their heads.

"Here?" Aeryn asked, looking around the corridor. "Where?"

"Stop thinking like a Muggle," Ron scoffed, rolling his eyes. Aeryn folded her arms across her chest and sent him a look.

"Oh…shit…you're Muggle-born aren't you?"

"Yes, Ronald, I am."

"I-I'm sorry. That sentence wasn't meant to offend you in anyway or anything. I just came out with it and-"

"Ron. Rambling," she interrupted, amused. Ron blushed and looked away, eager for a distraction. Unfortunately for him, there wasn't one. Apparently, it was the only night Filch didn't turn up to give them detentions for the rest of the week. Trying to divert her attention away from the fact that he'd probably just insulted her more than she was letting on, Ron tickled the pear, watching as a door appeared, granting them access to the kitchens.

"Ladies first," he offered, holding the door open and bowing mockingly. Aeryn rolled her eyes and ruffled his hair as she walked through the door, taking in everything in the kitchen. House elves were still running around madly, cleaning up everything after a days work and beginning to make breakfast which they would undoubtedly keep warm with a few spells. As soon as the door closed, the elves looked up, smiling at their arrivals. A few stopped what they were doing to come and see if they could help in anyway, but when they saw Ron, they knew which house elf it would be that ended up helping them in the end.

"Dobby," Ron greeted the creature, smiling at the numerous hats he had stacked on his head and the mismatched socks.

"Harry Potters Wheezy," Dobby greeted back, jumping up on a table to shake Ron's hand. Aeryn almost laughed at the look on Ron's face in response to his nickname from Dobby.

"What can Dobby do for you, sir…and missus?" he added as an afterthought.

"I was wondering if you could just make us something to eat. I missed dinner-"

"Dobby will make you something right away," the elf replied, eagerly. He hopped down from the table and darted between two benches before seemingly thinking better of that and running back towards them, skidding to a halt a few inches away from Aeryn.

"Would Harry Potters Wheezy and his Missus like anything to drink, Sir?"

Not bothering to correct Dobby on his use of the term 'missus', Ron nodded, telling the House Elf that they'd just have a drink of water each. The glasses were presented a moment later by another elf whilst Dobby ran off to make their food. Aeryn looked around before taking a seat on one of the benches while Ron stayed standing by the door.

"Dare I ask why you know where the kitchen is?" she asked, smiling and looking at him.

"My brothers, Fred and George," Ron replied, blushing at the memory of Hogsmeade. Aeryn seemed to think of the same thing as she blushed a little too and looked down into her glass of water.

"So," he started, smiling. "You're going to beat the crap out of Slytherin this weekend, right?" Aeryn rolled her eyes.

"I already told you, Ron. I am _not _going to purposefully hit Draco Malfoy, _just _because you want me to."

"But-" Dobby chose this moment to come back with the food and unfortunately for Ron, he chose that moment to step forward. Unsuprisingly, he tripped straight over Dobby and spilt his glass of water, knowing which direction it was heading in even before Aeryn let out a surprised yelp and jumped up from the bench.

"Please tell me that didn't land all over you," Ron whispered, not wanting to open his eyes. When she didn't reply, he looked to find that the glass of water _had _landed on her.

"Dobby is _so _sorry, Mr. Wheezy," the house elf apologised, close to tears. Ron looked between Aeryn and the elf and frowned.

"Uh, it's alright, Dobby. We'll sort it out, won't we-" he stopped dead as he felt cold water trickling down his face and whipped round to find Aeryn standing smugly with her empty glass in her hand.

"Yes, Ron," she replied, trying to keep a straight face. "We _will _sort it out." He stared at her disbelievingly for a moment, looked at water trickling down his shirt and then promptly burst out laughing. Aeryn kept up her façade for a few more seconds before laughing too. Dobby stood behind Ron uncertainly, not sure what he should do. It was Ron who finally put him out of his misery.

"T-thanks for the food, Dobby," he said, taking the plate at the elf handed it to him.

"Dobby is sorry, Mr. Wheezy Sir for making you fall-"

"It's alright, Dobby," Ron reassured him, patting him on the head and making the tower of hats he'd built up lean dangerously to one side. The house elf still looked rather unsure, and looked at the two of them, frowning at their wet clothes.

"Would Wheezy like Dobby to dry your clothes for you, Sir?" he asked. Ron look down at their wet clothes and then back at him.

"It's alright, Dobby. We won't have them on much longer," Ron stopped for a second and then his face flushed bright red. "T-that…I didn't mean that to sound how it did. I just…the…it was…" Aeryn burst out laughing again at the look of sheer embarrassment on his face, which only made him blush more.

"You know," she started. "I advise you to just eat your food before you embarrass yourself even more than you already have." Ron nodded and sat down at the small table by the door, digging hungrily into his late dinner. Aeryn sat opposite him, still smiling. Not wanting to make a fool of himself again, Ron stayed quiet throughout eating his meal, and it wasn't until he was done that they talked again, and even then it was only to thank Dobby. The hallway was clear when they stepped out and Ron threw the invisibility cloak over the two of them. Once again, Filch seemed to be elsewhere on the way back to Common Room, and thankfully they made it there without incident, only realising how late it was when they found the room completely empty.

"Uh…I didn't mean to keep you up this late," Ron apologised, smiling weakly.

"It's alright. I mean, I've always wanted to stay up until nearly midnight just to have a glass of water thrown all over me," she replied, smirking.

"Very funny."

"Well, I'm sure I would have hit anyone else other than you." Ron seemed to brighten up at this and he smiled, however before he had a chance to say anything Aeryn had kissed him.

"Night, Ron," she said, blushing and starting up the stairs.

"N-n-night…" he replied, weakly. Aeryn smiled and hurried up to her room.

----

Lucius Malfoy grabbed the black robed Death Eater and slammed him against the wall.

"What do you _mean _you didn't kill him?" he demanded, his face twisting into an angry snarl.

"H-he's the Minister of Magic!" the Death Eater defended. "You can't just take out the Minister with a well placed Killing Curse. He's guarded. The Ministry is hard to break into _when _the Minister is there-"

"I don't care," Lucius hissed, grabbing the Death Eaters robe and slamming him back against the wall painfully. "I ordered you to do one thing and you failed me-"

"I-I'm sorry, Sir! I-I didn't-"

"You understand why we're doing this, don't you?"

"Y-yes, sir-"

"Why?"

"The M-minister of Magic is a possible threat b-because he knows everything about y-you, Sir and he could use it against y-you-"

"And?"

"And without a Minister of Magic there would be something else for the Wizarding World to focus their attention on, which would give us enough time to-"

"Yes," Lucius interrupted. "You got it down to a tee. Now get out of my sight before I decide you're not worth my time." The Death Eater hurried to do as he was told, tripping over his own feet a few times in his haste to get out the door.

"That was rather cruel," a voice said from the shadows.

"Would you rather I'd given him flowers?" Lucius sneered, mockingly. The person chuckled and stepped forward, revealing himself as Barty Crouch Jr.

"How in Merlin's name did you get in here, Barty?"

"Back door," he replied.

"There _is _no back door." Barty just smiled.

"Yes well, be that as it may, I thought you might like to know that Bellatrix and Antonio are back."

"Brilliant," Lucius said, picking up his cloak from the chair it was hanging over and sweeping out of the room. Barty smirked, picked something up from the desk and followed him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Ten**

The Hall was mostly empty when Harry got down to breakfast the next morning, which either meant he'd woken up unusually early or everyone had already had breakfast and had long since left. When he found Hermione and Aeryn there though, he knew he had woken up far earlier than he usually did and the thought made him yawn. The only other students in the Hall were the members of each of the Quidditch teams that would be in the Match later that day.

Harry looked over at the Slytherin table to find Draco and spotted his blond hair almost immediately. As if feeling someone watching him, Draco looked up and caught Harry's eye. They glared at each other loathingly for a few moments before Draco dropped his gaze to talk to Siobhan beside him. Harry smirked and took a seat beside Hermione.

"Why are you up so early?" she asked, handing him a plate of breakfast.

"I'll go back to bed if you want," he replied, making to stand up from the table. Hermione grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back down into his seat.

"Don't be stupid," she scolded. "I was just saying." Harry smiled and picked up his knife and fork.

"Good luck today, by the way," he said, looking over at Aeryn.

"They're not going to need luck," Hermione interrupted after Aeryn had thanked him. "I hardly know anything about Quidditch, but even I can tell that their moves are good-"

"Be that as it may," Harry continued, smiling. "You should still take Ron's advice-"

"What advice?"

"Since when can Ron give good advice?" Hermione asked, looking somewhat stunned.

"You should knock Malfoy off his broom," he finished. Both girls groaned and he held his hands up in defence.

"I rest my case," Hermione replied. "Ron _can't _give good advice." Harry chuckled and grabbed the butter from the middle of the table and Hermione's knife from her plate to butter his toast with. When he'd finished doing that, he looked round the table for a glass a Pumpkin Juice, and when he couldn't find one, reached across and grabbed Hermione's. She glared at him and he replied with a smile before taking a long sip.

"Next time," Hermione started, picking up the glass herself as he put it back in front of her. "I'm going to put something in it. Like a potion that makes you grow rabbit ears-"

"Would they be cute rabbit ears?" he asked, thoughtfully. Aeryn smiled behind her glass so that the glare Hermione was sending Harry wouldn't be directed at her too. Harry seemed unfazed by the look he was receiving, though and he continued to eat his breakfast. Aeryn knew for a fact that, while Hermione's glares wouldn't make Harry flinch or feel uncomfortable, Ron was the complete opposite. One look from her would shut him up in an instant, whereas Harry would just smile and continue. Ron has said that the two of them weren't dating, but if he _hadn't_, it would have been what Aeryn instantly assumed.

"Morning," Ron said, cheerfully, taking a seat beside her. She turned away from Harry and Hermione to face him, finding herself blushing a little when she thought about their midnight trip to the kitchens the night before.

"Rather cheerful this morning aren't you?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at Ron who shrugged in response, still smiling as he buttered his toast. Hermione looked between Ron and Aeryn and when she caught they other girls eye, she clicked and sent a knowing smile in her direction, opening her mouth to say something. Aeryn blushed even more and then to make Hermione shut up, she nodded over at Harry, reminding her of what she'd revealed after Hogsmeade. Her mouth snapped shut instantly.

The two boys, oblivious to the exchange had already started talking about the Quidditch game that would start in under an hour.

"Malfoy's going to be in for one hell of a beating-"

"I've already told you, Ron. I am not going to hit him-"

"No," Ron corrected. "Not that kind of beating. I mean that you lot are going to thrash him. For starters, your brooms are the fastest things I've ever seen, and you've got bloody good strategies-"

"May I remind you," Hermione interrupted. "That there _is _more than one person on that team-"

"I know, but if you beat the Slytherin's, then you're still beating Malfoy, aren't you?" Hermione rolled her eyes and finished the last of her breakfast, dragging Harry up from the table with her.

"Well, we're going to go and get seats so we don't end up sitting in between a group of First Years again," she announced. "We'll save you a seat, Ron. Good luck Aeryn." They both thanked her and then watched as she half dragged Harry out the Hall.

"I should probably go soon, too," Aeryn said when she saw Siobhan stand up from the Slytherin table. "Siobhan will want to go through last minute strategies."

"I'll come with you, but can I finish my toast first?" he asked, taking a bite from it on her nod. He ate as fast as he could and they only ended up being five minutes behind Siobhan. Ron stopped outside the changing rooms and smiled.

"Well, good luck. You'll beat them." Aeryn smiled back and then stood on tiptoes to kiss him.

"Don't forget to cheer," she said.

"I won't," Ron replied. "Don't worry." Aeryn waved at him as he ran off to join Harry and Hermione and then turned round to enter the changing room. Most of the team was there already and Aeryn went to sit next to Ailish, chancing a look over at Siobhan and David who seemed to be arguing about something. She watched as Siobhan slapped his hand away as it came to rest on her arm and then as his face turned red and he whispered a reply to whatever it was that she had just said, angrily. Aeryn looked away as their conversation come to an abrupt end, not wanting to get caught staring at them. David stormed off to the other end of the room and Siobhan turned to face the rest of the team, snapping a 'you're late' at one of the students who hurried in the door.

They _did _have to sit through Siobhan going over strategies one last time, and her saying how annoyed she would be if they lost. Anyone who had been in her house back in Australia knew that this wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Of course, if it was her form of a pep talk, it didn't do very much for the confidence of the team. If anything, they were more scared now than they had been when they walked through the door.

Each member of the team was given a new kit that had been ordered for them at the beginning of the year. They were in their school colours – black and red – and the emblem of the Australian Academy was sewed onto the front. Each of their names were stitched on the back in big capital yellow lettering.

"Hurry up and get ready," Siobhan ordered, pulling her own kit out of the cardboard box in front of her and watching as everyone hurried to do as they were told, each stepping into an empty cubicle to change. Siobhan was already waiting for them when they stepped out and each of them grabbed their brooms and followed her towards the entrance to the pitch, waiting until they were called out. The Slytherin team walked up beside them a few minutes later and Draco smirked when Siobhan looked round at him, mouthing 'get ready to loose' to which she replied with a silent 'you wish'. They didn't have to wait long until the doors opened and everyone mounted their brooms, flying into their starting positions.

Madame Hooch mounted her own broom and put her whistle in her mouth, getting ready to start the match. It was only after the captains had shook hands that Siobhan stopped watching her and looked across at Draco, who was already looking at her, an amused look on his face. The Snitch and Bludgers were released below and Siobhan watched as the tiny golden ball fluttered madly around Draco's head before flying off towards the stands. Then the whistle blew and everyone shot off in different directions. Siobhan flew straight past Draco and he hurriedly turned round to follow her, his broom barely fast enough to keep up with her.

"Slytherin have the Quaffle first," a somewhat detached and dreamy voice announced from the teachers box. Draco recognised the voice as the same girl who commentated the matches the year before – Luna Lovegood – and he chuckled, remembering vaguely how amusing those matches had been. A Bludger flying in front of his face brought his thought back to the present and he came to a sudden stop to avoid it, giving Siobhan a chance to shoot well ahead of him.

Down in the crowd, amongst the Gryffindors, Ron laughed triumphantly and punched the air.

"She hit the Bludger at him," he stated.

"I don't think she meant for it to go in his direction," Hermione replied. "It was going to hit one of their chasers and she had to deflect it." Ron either didn't hear her or decided to ignore her and continued to watch the match, cheering along with everyone else.

"Oh look!" Luna exclaimed, making the majority of the students look around to see what she was talking about. "A swarm of Lorkalsnacks. Be careful everyone. If you're not careful, they could come and chew the top of your ears off – pardon? Oh sorry, Professor. I was just warning everyone."

Aeryn laughed from where she was hovering on her broom and looked around for either of the Bludgers. Ailish was doing the same from the other end of the pitch and seemed to be having more luck when a Bludger came flying in her direction. Looking around the pitch, she just caught a glimpse of David scoring the first goal of the match and was vaguely aware of whoever it was commentating the match announce the goal and throw in a 'oh look, I wonder what that is on the hoops, I've never seen anything like that before – Sorry Professor.'. After looking over at the hoops and finding absolutely nothing there, Aeryn shook her head, smiling and vowed to ask Ron about her later. Deflecting a Bludger as it flew towards her head, Aeryn took one last look around the pitch before shooting forward to help her team mates.

Draco hovered above the hoops of the Slytherin goals and looked hopelessly around for the Snitch that he hadn't seen since the beginning of the match forty minutes ago. His gaze was torn from the Match when he was thrown sideways on his broom, barely managing to keep a grip on it.

"Watch yourself, Draco," Blaise's voice taunted.

"Piss off, Zambini," Draco ordered. "We're meant to be playing Quidditch, not insulting each other." Blaise smirked and grabbed the Quaffle as it was thrown to him by one of their team mates.

"Think fast," he hissed, just loud enough for Draco to hear, before throwing the red ball at him. Draco made attempt to duck, but the ball was moving faster than he thought it had been and it hit him painfully in the side of head, knocking him halfway off his broom. Gripping it tightly, he forced himself back up and was ready to yell at Blaise when Madame Hooch flew up between them.

"Problem boys?" she asked, looking between the two Slytherins. Draco brought his hand up to his jaw to check it wasn't broken or damaged in any other way before shaking his head.

"Of course not," he replied. "Just discussing tactics-"

"That's not what it looked like to me," she interrupted, sternly, looking at Draco and then at Blaise. "If I see any more violence, I'll kick you both out of the game. Have I made myself clear?"   
"Crystal."

"Good." With that said, the teacher flew off, leaving the two boys alone again. Blaise obviously decided not to take his chances with the threat they had just been given and smirked before flying off to join back in with the game. Draco glared at him until he was just a speck on the field and then went back to looking for the Snitch. Siobhan didn't seem to have seen it either, which made him feel better. Listening for the score, it only took him a few minutes to find out that the Match wasn't in their favour; 250 to 110. It was seconds before he darted off to take a better look around the Pitch that he saw the tiny golden ball floating around their goalposts.

Not caring that Siobhan was watching him and would surely see what he was doing, Draco steered his broom down and headed straight for the Snitch, careful not to let it out of his sights.

"Oh look! Draco's seen something! Maybe it's a Gymipuff – Oh…The Headmistress says it the Snitch. Why would he be looking for the Snitch when there are so many more interesting things on this Pitch?" Chuckling to himself, Draco looked around briefly to see where Siobhan was and found her a few feet behind him. He flashed a grin and turned back round in time to avoid ploughing into a Slytherin Beater. By the time the Snitch had veered downwards, Siobhan was at his side.

"Looks like you're going to loose, Draco," she called over the sound of the rushing wind.

"I think not," he replied, forcing his broom to go faster. Siobhan didn't struggle at all to keep up with him and it wasn't long before she started to overtake him. Cursing under his breath, Draco leaned further forward in the hope that it would increase his speed. It didn't. He managed to catch back up with Siobhan a few seconds later when the two of them had to pull up quickly to stop themselves from flying straight into the ground. It was close, but both of them managed to pull up without hurting themselves and then they were both after the Snitch again. Draco's broom however was no match for Siobhan's and she began to overtake him again. Desperate, he grabbed hold of the handle of her broom to slow her down.

"Draco! What the hell are you doing? You're going to get us killed!" she cried, trying to shake him off without taking her eyes of the Snitch.

"Would I do such a thing?" he asked, pushing himself forward before releasing his grip on the broom. It didn't get him very far, but Siobhan was still behind him, trying to speed up and keep some control of her broom. The Snitch was barely a meter away by this point and Draco lifted his hand up to get it, then instantly dropped it when the ball flew back upwards. Following it, Draco managed to avoid a few close calls with his team mates which would have undoubtedly ended badly. They only got up to half the height of the stands when the golden ball changed course again, going back in a horizontal line across the pitch. Draco changed direction with an annoyed growl and shot after it again.

That was when Siobhan managed to catch up with him, pushing him sideways so that she could have a better shot at catching the Snitch.

"Oh no you don't," he growled, pushing her back out of the way and reaching up to catch the Snitch again. She did the same, pushing his arm down first.

"Ready to get beaten?" she asked, smirking.

"As if," he sneered, shoving her out of the way, giving him time to take the lead again, barely. Though he didn't want to look round for fear of loosing the Snitch, he knew that she was still behind him.

It was then that he heard the unmistakable sound of a Bludger hurtling towards him. Still not daring to look round, he willed his broom to go faster to avoid it. Siobhan didn't seem to have seen it however, and just as she darted forward to catch up with him again, he heard the ball hit her, and then felt her jerk violently to the side, knocking him clean off his broom. As a last moment hope, he closed his hand and was relieved to feel it wrap around something that he hoped was the Snitch.

Looking round and holding onto his broom with a single hand, he tried to find out where Siobhan had gone. It was the startled gasps and the abrupt end in play that helped him to discover that she was no longer in the air. He followed the direction of everyone else's line of sight and found her laying on the Pitch 60ft or so below him.

Not sure how to get back onto his broom with one hand and in mid air, Draco put the snitch between his teeth and swung himself back up before taking it out and holding it up briefly so that everyone could see that he had caught it.

The Slytherin stands erupted in applause and he lost interest at that point, pointing the handle of his broom towards the ground, going as fast as it would let him. Most of the Australian team were already there, standing around Siobhan, and as soon as Draco got there, he pushed them out of the way and knelt down beside her. However, before he'd had a chance to do anything, Madame Hooch had come up behind him and pushed him to the floor where he landed unceremoniously on his back, in the dirt.

"Is she alright?" a voice asked. Draco looked up from Siobhan to find David McDonald looking worriedly down at her and he glared at him hatefully.

"She'll be fine," Madame Hooch replied, waving him away when he tried to step closer. "Just a few broken ribs. The fall knocked her unconscious so she may have concussion, but she'll be fine in a few hours. Now get out of my way, I need to get her to the Hospital Wing." Everyone except Draco did as they were told, giving the teacher enough room to conjure up a stretcher. Then, as if just remembering that they were still in the middle of a game, she turned to Draco.

"Did you catch the Snitch, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes," he replied, holding out his hand to show her but not taking his eyes off Siobhan.

"Good, good." Taking the golden ball from him, she levitated the stretcher and made off to the Castle. Draco picked up both their brooms and darted after them, keeping at a distance so that Madame Hooch wouldn't yell at him.

Harry, Ron and Hermione appeared on the Pitch a second later along with what few Australian students there were. Aeryn spotted them straight away and ran over, letting Ron lift her up and twirl her around.

"Told you, you'd win," he congratulated once he'd set her on her feet again.

"What was the final score?" she asked, looking towards the teacher's box. "I wasn't really listening."

"270 to 260," Harry replied. "So it was a pretty close call. If Malfoy had caught the Snitch a few seconds later it would have been a draw." Aeryn nodded, smiling.

"What happened up there?" Ron asked, nodding his head towards the Castle as if it would explain what he was talking about. Everyone seemed to get it however and Aeryn looked over at her team.

"Ailish was aiming the Bludger at Draco but Siobhan got in the way just as it was about to hit him," she replied. "We thought he would pull back and give Siobhan a chance to overtake him. Obviously he had no intention of doing any such thing."

"Ah, that's such a shame," Ron said, shaking his head. "You nearly hit him-"

"Ron!" Hermione scolded. "You may not have noticed, but Draco isn't half as bad as he was last year and need I remind you that he saved my life?"

"I know he did, but that doesn't mean-"

"Well look on the bright side," Harry quickly interrupted before an argument broke out. "At least you won the Match-"

"_Barely_," Aeryn replied, looking between Hermione and Ron, the latter of which seemed to have already forgotten what they were arguing about anyway.

"But you still won. Which means celebrations are in order." This made Ron smile and he rubbed his hands together.

"You think you could sneak to Hogsmeade for some Butterbeer?" he asked, looking expectantly at Harry.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll be able to manage that."


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Eleven **

Draco followed Madame Hooch towards the Hospital Wing, ignoring her orders to go back outside and join his team. It was only when he got to there that the Teacher managed to stop him following her by ordering him to stay outside and then placing locking charm on the door in an attempt to keep him out. It only took him a few seconds though to realise that he could probably break the charm. Pulling his wand from his pocket and pointing it at the door, he muttered the charm to open it, then hearing a satisfying click, stepped forwards and pushed the double doors open. Madame Pomfrey was on him in an instant.

"Out, Mr. Malfoy. There was a locking charm on those doors for a reason-"

"But-" he began to protest, trying to catch a glimpse of Siobhan.

"No! Out!" Her final decision made, she pushed him back out into the corridor and locked the doors again with a stronger charm.

"I just wanted to know if she was okay!" Draco called, hoping that someone would hear him through the closed door. After waiting a few seconds and receiving no reply, Draco kicked the door angrily and then sat down beside it with his back against the wall, knowing full well that if it was Harry in there, _his _friends would be allowed to go in and see him. The thought angered him even more and he pulled the protective pads off his wrists and shins and tossed them at the wall opposite, watching them fall down to rest beside the two brooms he had put there, one of which tore his attention away from the Hospital Wing and whatever it was that was going on inside.

Looking round briefly at the doors to make sure no one was coming out, Draco reached out and picked up Siobhan's broom for a quick inspection. It had a nicer finished look to it than his Comet360 and a gold line ran from one end of the wood to the other. The name of the broom – Demon – was printed in red lettering near the front of it and was written in such a way that anyone who didn't know what the name of the broom was wouldn't have been able to read it.

Draco looked up as the doors to the Hospital Wing opened to find Madame Hooch looking down at him disapprovingly.

"Why are you still here, Mr. Malfoy?" I thought you were told to leave."

"I wanted to make sure Siobhan was alright," he replied, rising from the floor to see if he could look over her shoulder and into the room. Without giving him an answer, the Quidditch Instructor shook her head and walked off. Taking this as a sign that it was okay to enter, Draco grabbed everything from the floor and stormed through the doors. Madame Pomfrey jumped and looked round for the source of the noise, her eyes narrowing when they settled on him.

"Is she alright?" he asked hurriedly, running to the side of her bed.

"She only fell off her broom," the Nurse replied, waving her hand in a dismissive manner. "She'll be feeling just fine in a few hours." Draco nodded and then looked up at the Nurse to thank her. The startled gasp that escaped her stopped him though.

"What have you done to your face you silly boy?" she demanded, walking round the bed and arriving at his side in only three long strides. Draco brought his hand up to touch his cheek only to have it slapped away.

"What do you-"

"The whole right side of your face is bruised," she explained, pushing him into the chair beside Siobhan's bed. "Stay there while I go and get something to put on it." Draco watched as she crossed the room to her office and then when he was sure she was gone, he stood back up and looked at Siobhan. Her Quidditch Kit was folded up at the end of the bed and she was in one of the school Hospital gowns. He could see that there were bandages wrapped around her through it and caught sight of another on her left shoulder.

"I thought I told you to sit down," Madame Pomfrey said, walking back over to him and grabbing his shoulders to turn him back round to face her. He resisted the urge to laugh when he saw that she barely came up to his chin.

"Why has she got a bandage on her shoulder?" he asked as she rubbed a thick, foul smelling paste on the side of his face.

"Well don't you think you might have broken a few bones if you'd fell from that height?"

"Didn't anyone try to stop her fall?"

"Minerva slowed her down a little, but the bones in her shoulder are weak – so she's probably broken it before. The impact broke it again." Draco started to nod to show that he understood, but all that earned him was a slap on his good cheek and an order to keep still. He said nothing more until she was finished and was finally given a piece of wet cloth to hold on his face, which would apparently help the paste to take effect.

"I don't want you sitting here all day," Madame Pomfrey said, sternly. "So if she isn't awake within the hour, I expect you to leave." Draco nodded, even though he had no intention of doing any such thing and sat back in the chair, holding the cloth to his face as he'd been told to. Satisfied with his answer, Madame Pomfrey strutted back to her office, closing the door behind her. Draco had just began to relax again when the double doors to the Hospital Wing opened, making him look round, only to find David McDonald making a beeline for Siobhan's bed.

"Is she alright?" he asked, obviously eager for an answer when the same question had been dismissed the last time.

"Fine," Draco replied, gruffly. David nodded and walked to the opposite side of the bed to where Draco was standing.

"She never pays attention to everything that's going on in a Match," he said, a somewhat accusing tone to his voice. "You should have warned her that Bludger was coming-"

"I don't think I like the way you just put that statement, McDonald," Draco replied, glaring up at him.

"I'm just saying," he shrugged. "You _should _have told her that the Bludger was coming-"

"Between her being behind me and then beside me, I don't think I had much time. Do you?"

"If you'd have pulled up and out of the way, she would have probably looked round to see why and then moved out of the way too. Then it wouldn't have hit her-"

"And loose the game? I was preparing myself to take that hit to win. It's not _my _fault that she pulled up beside me and took the hit instead," Draco hissed, rising from his chair. "You think I _wanted _her to get hit?"

"Well maybe you were preparing to take _that _kind of risk to beat us-"

"You don't know me very well, do you McDonald?"

"I know you well enough to know that you're an evil, twisted, _Slytherin-_"

"May I remind you that Siobhan is _also _in Slytherin, so you went out with one of those evil, twisted-" Draco paused as comprehension seemed to dawn on him and he laughed. "Oh, _I _see what this is about. You, McDonald are jealous that your ex has gotten someone and _you _haven't." Their voices had been lowered to whispers up until this point, but David raised his in protest.

"That is _not _what this is about!"

"Oh, I think it is," Draco replied, smirking.

"I'm concerned for her well being, that's the beginning and end of it, Malfoy," he argued.

"Are you?" he sneered, leaning across the bed. "Or are you just afraid of me and my Father?" David had the grace to snap his mouth shut, which told Draco more than all the words in the English Dictionary ever could have.

"Well frankly," Draco continued. "I don't give a damn what you think of me and I also don't think it's any of your _concern _who Siobhan is dating. Personally, I think she'd have the same opinion-"

"Don't pretend to know her better than me-"

"Oh don't worry," Draco smirked, thinking back to the conversation about the book Siobhan carried around with her. "I don't have the pretend." David opened his mouth to argue back, but the sound of a door opening stopped him and both boys turned round to find a few of the Players of the Australian Team standing in the doorway.

"Is she alright?" Frances asked, looking at Draco.

"She's fine," David replied before the Slytherin could even open his mouth.

"She'd be a lot better if _you _left," Draco snapped, looking pointedly at David, who was once again cut off, this time by Madame Pomfrey.

"I don't remember saying that she could have more than one visitor. I've permitted Mr. Malfoy to stay here, but I want the rest of you _out_."

----

Harry, upon deciding that he couldn't delay talking to Hermione about what happened at Hogsmeade longer than he already had, offered to go with her on her walk to the lake that evening. Ron stayed behind after much persuading from Aeryn to finish his Potions homework, so it left the two of them alone.

"Harry, where in Merlin's name are we going?" Hermione asked for the umpteenth time, following him through the woods.

"I've already told you," he replied, smiling. "It's a surprise."

"Well are we nearly there? When you offered to come down to the lake with me, I didn't really expect it to involve trekking through the woods for twenty minutes."

"Well you need a little excitement in your life, and it's not _been _twenty minutes. Closer to eighteen."

"Don't you think I've had _enough _excitement in my life?" she asked, laughing.

"Well, it's been pretty uneventful lately. Anyway, stop moaning, we're here now." Grabbing her hand, he pulled her over a fallen tree and into a small clearing in the forest. He wasn't really sure where the water was going, or coming from, but there was a small waterfall in front of them and he pulled her over to sit by the edge of the river.

"How on _Earth _did you find this?" she asked, looking round.

"I spotted it when I was flying," he replied, nodding towards the sky. Hermione looked up too and Harry took it as a chance to look at her, trying to decide how best to bring up Hogsmeade. He came up blank and crossed his fingers.

"We need to talk about what happened last weekend," he blurted out, watching as her head snapped round to look at him. After a few moments of doing a very good impression of a fish out of water, she nodded.

"Why did we never try dating?" he asked, playing with a few blades of grass that he had pulled up as an excuse not to look at her.

"Because we had too much to think about," Hermione replied. "What with Voldemort and the Horcruxes. There wasn't any time-"

"So, you'd have gone out with me this year if we didn't have Voldemort to take care of?"

"I can't say that I didn't think about it." Harry nodded and swallowed nervously.

"Would…you have hit me?" he asked, curiously. "If I had actually kissed you before Ginny came along?" Hermione seemed to think about it for a moment before looking back at him.

"No."

"And…would you hit me if I kissed you now?"

"What do you think?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling at him. He smiled back and then leaned forward to kiss her, smiling as he felt her arm snake around his neck to pull him closer. Their kiss only lasted a few moments before Harry pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.

"So, does this mean that you'll go to Hogsmeade on Valentines Day with me?" he asked. "As a _real _date?" Hermione rolled her eyes, smiled and then pulled him down for another kiss.

----

Draco came back from dinner to find Siobhan awake and sitting up bed, glaring at Madame Pomfrey.

"If looks could kill," Draco whispered, coming up beside the bed and making her jump. When she saw him though, she smiled and Draco responded by kissing her quickly while the Nurses back was turned.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, pulling a chair up and sitting in it.

"Fine," she replied, shifting so that she could see him better. "Where have you been?"

"She kicked me out to go to dinner. Figures you should wake up while I was gone. At least McDonald wasn't in here-"

"David?" Siobhan questioned raising an eyebrow in question.

"He was in here just as you came in, moaning about me and you being together," Draco replied, waving his hand to show that he didn't care about it all that much.

"So what happened?" Siobhan asked, bringing her hand up to the side of his face that – despite all the stuff Madame Pomfrey had put over it – was still bruised badly.

"Blaise threw a Quaffle at my head," he replied, frowning. "Not sure what provoked that. And what did you fly in front of the Bludger for?"

"I didn't actually see – or hear – it coming. I was too focused on getting the Snitch to care about anything else." Draco nodded, feeling somewhat annoyed with himself that David had known that but he hadn't.

"Don't worry about it though," she added, looking at him. "It wasn't your fault."

"How in Merlin's name do you always know what I'm thinking?" he asked, frowning. "I'm not _that _easy to read, am I?"

"No," she replied, smiling. "It's a gift."

"An annoying one-"

"Mr. Malfoy, I thought I told you to go back to your Common Room after you'd had dinner," Madame Pomfrey interrupted, walking over to the bed.

"I know," he replied, hurriedly. "But I just wanted to come back and see if Siobhan was okay. You said she would wake up around now-"

"Yes, yes, alright-"

"Can I leave yet?" Siobhan questioned, making to get out of the bed. Madame Pomfrey looked at the two of them for a moment before rolling her eyes.

"Mr. Malfoy, help her back to the Common Room, would you? I don't want her walking without support today with her ribs in that condition."

"Will do," Draco said, standing up and noticing for the first time that Siobhan was no longer in the Hospital gown, but in her own clothes. Not even bothering to question how she had got them, he put an arm round her waist while she supported herself with an arm round his shoulder.

"Next time," Siobhan said, sucking in a deep breath through her teeth and wincing in pain. "You can get hit by the Bludger and I'll help _you _back to Slytherin Common Room."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N – (To a certain TWO people) There…are you happy? I uploaded it now!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Twelve**

Harry and Hermione managed to keep their relationship secret for all of three days before the reporters from the _Daily Prophet_ found out about it. There had been a four page article on the two of them, including any pictures that portrayed the couple as having been in this relationship for a lot longer than three days. They had even offered to let Rita Skeeter write, and she had obviously accepted the offer, despite Hermione's warning in their forth year. Harry _and _Ron had both been furious. More about the fact that the article in the _Daily Prophet _had done nothing but insult Hermione than the fact there was actually an article. As much as she tried not to show it, the article had upset Hermione as well, and Harry knew it. The Slytherin's had all got in their insults too, and Harry was on the verge of hexing Blaise until he could no longer think coherently.

Clearly, going to Hogsmeade on Valentines Day was out of the question for the two of them. The place would have been swarming with reporters and it would have caused complete chaos. Instead, they had decided to stay at Hogwarts for the day. Harry had a few things planned, but had no intention of telling Hermione that yet. He wanted it to be a surprise.

Despite the fact that they would be staying at the Castle, they still met up in the Entrance Hall with the rest of the Students to say good bye to Ron and Aeryn.

"You sure you don't want to come?" Ron asked, looking at his two best friends.

"We're sure," Hermione replied, glancing over at Harry.

"I suppose it's for the best. Though it's a shame the two of you won't get to spend Valentines Day in Hogsmeade-"

"We'll be together all day," Harry interrupted, smiling and wrapping his arm around Hermione's shoulders. "So it's as good as going to Hogsmeade, if not better." Ron nodded. All in all, he had taken the news that they were a couple better than Harry had expected him to. He'd made a bit of a fuss about being left out now that they had each other, but Hermione had assured him that would never happen in a million years. Ron had dully accepted this.

"You just watch _yourself_," Hermione warned. "Harry and I may not be there, but those reporters know that you're our best friend and they'll be on you in a heartbeat."

"I doubt it," Ron scoffed, rolling his eyes. "They don't even know I exist. I mean, when have they ever mentioned _me _in an article?"

"I think you're missing the point-" Hermione was interrupted as McGonagall called out for the students to leave.

"Well, have a good time," Harry said, nodding at Ron before Hermione could start on him again.

"You too," he replied, looking at his best friends one more time before running off to join Aeryn. Harry and Hermione waved at the two of them before turning round and heading back to Gryffindor Common Room.

"So, we have the Castle all to ourselves," Hermione said, smiling and looking round at him.

"Well, not _quite _all to ourselves," he replied. "The First and Second years are still here-"

"But they're in lessons. So until dinner, we'll be on our own." Harry thought about telling her that they would be alone for dinner too as he had planned to have Dobby bring it to the Room of Requirement, but then decided to keep it a secret and surprise her later.

"Now," Harry said, stopping her and putting a hand on either of her shoulders. "As it's Valentines Day, there are certain rules-"

"Harry-"

"No, hear me out," he pleaded. Hermione rolled her eyes, which he took as a sign to continue. "Okay, you cannot mention homework, NEWTs or teachers. You are also banned from going into the library for the rest of the day. The punishment for breaking these rules will be a trip _over _the Black Lake with me, on my Firebolt."

"You aren't serious-"

"Actually, I am."

"But…" Hermione trailed off, not really sure what to say and Harry smiled.

"I trust _you _can go a whole day without doing that, can't you?"

"I doubt it," she huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest and glaring at him. "But I don't seem to have much choice, so I'm going to have to try, aren't I?" Harry smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Great, now that we've got that out of the way, we can get on with what I have planned-"

"Planned?" Hermione asked. "I thought we were just going to sit in the Common Room-"

"As if," Harry replied, smiling and pulling her along. "We're going to make the most of our day alone. I have to make Valentines Day special for my girlfriend, don't I?" Despite the fact that Hermione knew that was exactly what she was – Harry's girlfriend – it still made her blush when he said it.

"You didn't _have _to do anything."

"I know, but I wanted to." Hermione let him drag her all the way back to the Common Room, where he told her to go and get her coat from her room and then meet him back downstairs. After unsuccessfully trying to find out what he was up to, she gave in and left him to go and do as he had told her to. When she got up to her room, she found her coat on the floor with Crookshanks asleep on top of it. It took a lot of persuading to get the cat off, and Harry was already waiting for her by the time she got back down to the Common Room.

"Shall we?" he asked, jokingly bowing and holding his hand out for her. Hermione rolled her eyes and took it, following him as he led her to the Entrance Hall and then outside into the cold.

"Why didn't we just bring our coats and leave with everyone else?" Hermione asked, looking towards the gates of Hogwarts, thoughtfully.

"Because if I told you to bring your coat, it wouldn't have been much of a surprise to you that we were doing something. That, and everyone would have seen where we were going, and seeing as the Forbidden Forest is 'strictly out of bounds' I think McGonagall may have had something to say about that."

"We're going into the Forest?" she questioned, uncertainly.

"Don't worry. Not that far in, there's just something I wanted to show you," Harry replied, smiling mysteriously. Hermione looked at him for a few seconds, wondering whether she should dread where he was taking her or be flattered that he had planned something for them to do that was more exciting than sitting in Gryffindor Common Room staring at a non-existent fire. It was as she followed him through the Forest that she recognised the path they were taking.

"Are we going back to that small clearing? With the waterfall?" she called to him from where he was waiting for her on a fallen log.

"Yes," he replied, somewhat disheartened that she'd figured out where he was taking her. "But there's more to it than I showed you." She thought that once she caught him up by the log he would give her a little time to rest, but as soon as she was in range to touch him, he got up and took of again, leaving her to hurry to catch up with him. It wasn't that she was unfit, it was more that trekking through the forest in the freezing cold _did _make you a little tired.

"I still don't understand how you remember the way there every time," she said, hoping that by striking up a conversation, he would slow down a little so that she could talk to him. Obviously eager to get there, he did no such thing; if anything, he began to walk faster.

"It's easy," he replied, pointing back to the fallen log. "There are lots of landmarks."

"Are you joking?" she asked, laughing. "They're _trees_! They all look the damn same!"

"No they don't," he argued, looking round at her briefly and flashing her a smile. "They're all different shapes. Besides, I just have a natural good sense of direction. It's not difficult to navigate through a Forest." Not sure what to say to that, and not wanting to continue the conversation and tire herself out by talking while almost running to keep up with him, Hermione closed her mouth and stumbled over the tree roots in front of her. She was incredibly grateful when they finally reached the small clearing, and she leaned back against a tree, trying to catch her breath.

"You alright, 'Mione?" Harry asked, resting a hand on her shoulder and bending down to catch her eye. "I didn't know walking took that much out of you-"

"It doesn't unless I'm walking at the pace of a car-"

"Now, now, I don't think I was walking _quite _that fast-"

"You may as well have been," she replied, looking up at him and resting her head back against the tree. He thought that she was angry with him, but the smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth gave her away and he poked her in the side, earning a squeak of surprise from her.

"Well, I'm sorry. I'll walk slower next time. Now come on, this isn't where we'll be eating-"

"Eating?" Hermione asked as he pulled her away from the tree towards the waterfall. Harry stopped and frowned.

"Oh damn. I just gave away the surprise, didn't I?"

"It doesn't matter," Hermione replied, kissing his cheek. "It's sweet all the same."

"Well, there's still one surprise left, I suppose." Hermione smiled as he pulled her towards the waterfall and then yanked his hand back when he made to pull her under it.

"I am _not _standing under a waterfall, Harry Potter." In response, Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at the waterfall, muttering something under his breath and then looking round smugly as the waterfall parted to make a small entrance way big enough for the two of them to walk through. Hermione looked at it impressed, before letting out a startled yelp when Harry pulled her under it. She looked round as the water started to fall again, which distracted her long enough for Harry to pull something out of a hidden gap between to two rocks.

"Lunch?" he asked, holding up a small picnic basket and making her look round at him. She smiled and walked over to him, sitting down on the blanket he conjured up with her back to the wall.

"Now, what sandwich would you like?" he asked, sitting in front of her and opening the basket on his lap.

"Surprise me." Harry reached into the basket with his eyes closed, smiling when he saw what sandwich he had pulled out.

"Would you look at that," he replied, chuckling. "Ham. Your favourite." Hermione took the sandwich and unwrapped it.

"I hope you didn't get the House Elves to make all these," she said, looking up at him disapprovingly. The sheepish look on his face gave her the answer.

"Harry…you know I don't like the House Elves-"

"I know," he hurried to explain. "B-but I got Dobby to make it all, and while I don't doubt for a second that some of the others helped him too, I _did _pay Dobby to do it. I even managed to keep the pay over half of what I originally offered." Hermione looked at him for a moment and then down at the sandwich before rolling her eyes and taking a bite. By the time she had finished, she looked up to find Harry staring at her, smiling.

"What?" she asked, blushing.

"Nothing," he replied, shaking his head and smiling at her. "I was just thinking…"

"About what?"

"I always thought you liked Ron. Everyone did."

"I did," she confessed, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "But all we ever do is argue. I can't really see that relationship working out, can you?"

"Well, no," he replied after a moment of thought. "But you know, everyone always thought that the two of you arguing was your way of expressing your feelings-"

"How in Merlins name did you _ever _come to that conclusion?"

"Well, we – I –everyone – thought that you kept arguing because you didn't want anyone to know that you really liked each other. I mean, we were obviously all wrong-"

"I'll say." Harry smiled and finished off the last of his sandwich before reaching in to the basket and pulling out a few things. Hermione picked up the bag of grapes, causing Harry to look up at her.

"I was just about to go for them," he said, frowning. Hermione smiled and teasingly ate one, smiling as he folded his arms over his chest and rested his back against the wall, glaring at her jokingly. After a few moments of teasing, Hermione took one of the grapes and threw it over to him. Instead of grabbing it with his hand, he leaned forward so that it landed in his mouth, laughing when he saw the shocked look on Hermione's face.

"Want me to do it again?" he asked, smirking.

"That was just a _very _lucky shot-"

"I beg to differ."

"Alright then," she replied, taking one of the grapes out of the bag.

"If I miss it, you get to push me in the water, deal?" he asked, and then on her nod, added to what he'd already said. "And If I catch it, then I get to tickle you until you're begging for mercy-"

"No way," Hermione protested, stopping with her hand in mid air.

"Yes," Harry replied, smiling and leaning forward on his hands ready to catch the grape. Hermione groaned when it landed straight in his mouth and then made a half-hearted attempt to climb up from the floor before Harry could grab her. She wasn't even _nearly _fast enough though, and he wrapped his arm round her waist, pinning her to the ground and sitting over her waist.

"Oh, _please _don't tickle me," she begging, laying her head back against the floor of the small cave and closing her eyes. Harry smiled, pretended to think for a moment and then leaned on his hands either side of her head.

"Okay, but if I don't get to tickle you, then surely I at _least _get a kiss." Hermione smiled and leaned up on her elbows to kiss him, letting out a startled gasp when he poked her in the side. Harry pushed her down to lay flat against the floor, only to have her put her hands on his shoulders and push him off.

"This floor is killing my back," she hurried to explain on his hurt look. "Let's go to the Common Room." Harry smiled and quickly packed up the stuff that they had used for lunch, hiding it back in between the two rocks where Dobby had promised to collect it from later. Then, he grabbed Hermione's hand, froze the waterfall and all but dragged her back through the Forest towards the school.

Hermione pulled him to a halt halfway there and he turned round to ask her what she was doing, but the horrified look on her face and that fact that she had gone deathly pale stopped him.

"Hermione?" he asked unsurely, putting his hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him, fear swimming in her eyes.

"What's the matter?"

"Harry," Hermione paused and drew in a deep breath. "Harry look out at Hogsmeade." He looked at her for a second longer before turning his gaze in the direction of the village and then feeling the blood drain from his face. Letting go of her hand and dropping the other from her shoulder, Harry turned fully to look at the green glowing skull and snake floating the sky above the small wizarding village.

"We have to go and help," he said, turning round and looking at Hermione, who met his determined look head on.

"Harry…we should tell…I don't know…someone. We can't just leave the Castle and go charging into the village-"

"We have to," he protested. "All the teachers are gone-"

"To Hogsmeade. Exactly, they'll all be there. We can't do anything more than they can-"

"How do you know that the Dark Mark wasn't cast _because _of one of the teachers? You know Death Eaters only cast the Mark when they've killed someone."

"I know, Harry, but-"

"I cannot sit at the Castle and do nothing, Hermione. _Please_…" he begged, putting his hands on her shoulders. "What if Ron's hurt?" Hermione clenched her jaw and Harry knew she was thinking about it, not wanting them to make a stupid decision and get themselves hurt. Eventually she gave in and nodded her head.

"Alright, but, Harry, we're not going to get there in time-"

"We will if we fly-"

"Oh no," she protested, pushing his hands off her shoulders and starting towards the Castle. "I draw the line at flying, Harry." He hurried to keep up with her, standing in front of her to stop her from going any further.

"You won't have to look," he said, desperately. "Y-you can sit on the broom behind me and close your eyes. I won't let you fall and it'll be over before you know it."

"Harry…"

"Look, I know you're scared of heights, but _come on_. I wouldn't make you do it if it wasn't serious."

"Fine," she sighed, defeated. "Get your broom then." Harry smiled and pulled out his wand, all thoughts of whatever it was they were going to do in the Common Room forgotten as he cast the _Accio _charm. They didn't even have to wait a full minute for Harry's broom to appear at the edge of the Castle, flying round it towards them. Harry threw a leg over it first and then instructed a terrified Hermione to climb on behind him. She did so after a few moments of persuading and then wrapped her arms around his waist in a vice-like grip, squeezing her eyes shut as tight as she could. Had it been any other time, Harry would have laughed at how nervous she was when they hadn't even taken off yet. Her grip only got worse the higher they went, and Harry was afraid he would pass out from lack of oxygen before they even got half way to the Village. By the time they _were _half way there, he was high enough to see the smoke rising from burnt buildings, but not close enough to see any shapes of people – or any movement at all. When he got within a few hundred yards and _still _couldn't see anyone down there, he began to panic a little and landed in a small alley, hiding his broom behind some barrels of Firewhiskey.

"Where is everyone?" Hermione whispered, wrapping her arm round his elbow and looking out of the Alley into the main roads of the village.

"I don't know," Harry replied, looking in through the grimy window of the pub in the hope that he would see something. He didn't. "Get your wand out though. They might still be here." Hermione did what she was told without hesitation and then took his hand as he moved towards the end of the Alley. Both looking in different directions as they came out to make sure that no one was waiting for them, the two of them made their way across the square towards the Pub, hoping that they would find someone in there. Harry let Hermione go first, while he stood with his back to hers to make sure that no one would jump out and shoot a curse at her.

"It's locked," Hermione hissed, pointing her wand at the door and muttering a charm. "It won't open." Harry cursed under his breath and pulled Hermione away from the door, not wanting to be standing in one place for too long and making them an easy target for any Death Eaters.

They were half way across the square before the volley of curses came flying at them. Harry was faster than Hermione at sending up a shield, which deflected most of them and sent a nasty _Reducto _curse flying into the roof of the Three Broomsticks and sending rubble crashing to the ground at their feet.

"Stop it!" a voice Harry recognised called, instantly stopping the curses flying in their direction. "Harry?"

"Ron?" The youngest Weasley boy stuck his head out the side of a shop and sighed in relief when he saw his best friends standing in front of them, covered in dust from the falling rubble.

"Merlin, I'm so glad it's you two," Ron said, stepping out into the street to join them. After quickly hugging them both, he turned back to where he had been hiding and called out, "Guys, it's alright, it's just Harry and Hermione!" The couple looked up as a few students emerged from the shops. Aeryn and Luna came out of the same building as Ron, both with a few grazes but otherwise unharmed. Ginny and Neville appeared in the window of the shop on their right, but didn't come out into the street. Harry was surprised to see Draco and Siobhan step out of the shop on their left, both with their wands still drawn cautiously.

"What happened?" Harry asked, looking around the Village. "And where are the other students?"

"What about the Teachers?" Hermione added when Harry failed to.

"We got some other members of the DA to take them back through the passageway at the Shrieking Shack. It was the only way we could think of to get them to safety. There are Death Eaters blocking the direct Path to the Castle," Ron replied, obviously wanting to explain why he'd told everyone about the passage in the Shack that had been _their _secret.

"Most of the Teachers are knocked out," Draco continued for him. "McGonagall is in the shop behind us. We think she's alright. Another two are in the shop over there with Weaslet and Longbottom and we haven't seen the others. The Head Girl and Head Boy – whatever their names are-"

"Kristina and Mazin," Hermione interrupted.

"Yeah, that," Draco replied, waving his hand. "They're looking for anyone else hurt now. They're taking them all back to the Shrieking Shack and leaving them there until we can get help." Harry nodded and looked round for a sign of their attackers and when he couldn't find them, he turned back to Ron.

"And the Death Eaters?" he asked. "Where are they?"

"We don't know," Ron admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. "Malfoy blew up a statue and we ran like hell in the confusion. I don't know where they went." Harry nodded his head, his attention more focused on any background noise that was made that would give him a clue as to where the Death Eaters were hiding.

"Is anyone hurt?" Hermione asked, looking round at the group of them.

"Few cuts and bruises," Ron replied, waving his hand dismissively. "Nothing life threatening. We'll all live." She nodded, but looked round at each other them anyway and was about to say something else when Harry gripped her hand tightly.

She turned to look at him and then stopped dead as voice hissed behind them, "Well, well. I didn't expect to ever see my own son associating himself with such _filth_…"


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Thirteen**

"_Well, well. I didn't expect to ever see my own son associating himself with such _filth_…"_

Harry whirled round; his wand pointing straight at the person he knew would be standing there. Everyone else did the same, glaring at the Death Eater hatefully. Not bothering to say anything, Lucius smiled and looked up to the roofs of the buildings surrounding them. Harry hesitated for a moment before looking round too. His heart sank when he saw what Lucius was looking at. Standing on top of each of the buildings that Ron and the others had come out of, stood three or four Death Eaters.

"We're boxed in," Hermione whispered as quietly as she could, not wanting to catch Lucius' attention. Harry looked down at her briefly and then round at where they were standing. She was right. The buildings, while once providing them with cover, had now cut off any means of escape.

"Put the wand down, Potter," Lucius ordered. Harry instantly looked back round at him, meeting his loathing glare head on. "You're outnumbered twelve to seven." Harry tried to hide the confused look that crossed his face as he looked back round at who was standing behind him. Sure enough there _were _only seven, which meant that Ginny and Neville were still inside the building to their left. Not wanting to draw any attention to them, Harry didn't look at it.

"Looks like you've trapped yourself," Lucius continued, not caring about what Harry was doing or thinking.

"It does, doesn't it?" Harry replied, trying to sound disinterested. He looked round at the buildings, trying to decide which one would take the most damage if he threw a _Reducto _curse at it. Lucius scowled at him, obviously annoyed, at Harry's attitude and turned his attention to Draco. Harry took this as his chance to look over at the building on their left to see if Ginny and Neville were still there. Unfortunately, due to the counter at the front, he couldn't see too far back in to the shop and couldn't tell if they'd stayed there or tried to find a back exit.

"Was there any particular reason all those owls I sent to you returned with nothing but my own letter – unopened, may I add?" Lucius was asking, looking directly at his Son, who shrugged and in return seemed to be unwilling to return the gaze.

"Look at me when I talk to you." Reluctantly doing as he was told, Draco raised his head a little so that he was looking at the floor at his Fathers feet.

"Put your wand down and come over here and I'll overlook this as a momentary lapse in your judgement," Lucius offered. _This _made Draco look up.

"I don't think so," he replied, defiantly, hoping his voice wasn't shaking as much as he thought it was.

"Draco-" Lucius warned.

"No. I'm _not _one of your Death Eaters and you _can't _order me around." Lucius clenched his jaw to stop himself from loosing his temper and settled for glaring at his Son.

"Then you'll die first."

"I'm shaking," Draco replied, sarcastically, hoping that his Father couldn't see that that was _exactly _what he was doing. He heard Siobhan laugh quietly beside him and it made him smile, which his Father didn't really seem to approve of.

"Check the buildings," he ordered, looking up at the Death Eaters on the roofs. Everyone looked round as they levitated themselves down and Harry weighed up their chances. Nine to seven. They were still outnumbered, though not by much. However, the Death Eaters were on higher ground _and _had cover, whereas they had none and couldn't get to any quick enough to avoid a spell.

No one said anything as the three Death Eaters entered each of the buildings – the one that passed Draco pushing him out of the way much harder than was necessary. Siobhan grabbed his arm to help him steady himself and of course, this caught Lucius' attention straight away.

"Ah yes, I believe I have someone who wants to see you," he said, smiling at her. Siobhan glared back at him, trying to decide on the most painful curse that she could cast on him that was legal.

"Apparently you have something of theirs-"

"Yeah? I dare you to try and get it off me," she threatened. Lucius looked at her for a moment and was about to say something when the Death Eaters emerged from the buildings, reporting with a 'No one there, Sir.' Instead of joining the others on top of the buildings, the three Death Eaters pointed their wands at the small group of students and stayed standing where they were.

"Right, I think we've wasted enough time talking," Lucius said, looking back at Harry and pulling out his wand. "Who shall it be first? Mudbloods seems fitting, don't you think, Potter?" Harry opened his mouth to snap back, but movement out of the corner of his eye stopped him and he closed his mouth, smiling.

"No objections?" Lucius questioned, seemingly surprised. "I can kill her then?"

"Not happening, sorry." Lucius whirled round to find the source of the voice, but the spell that had been hurtling in his direction hit him straight in the chest and sent him flying backwards. The second spell hit the top of the building that Draco and Siobhan were standing in front of and they quickly jumped out of the way to avoid being hit by falling bricks. Not wasting any time, Harry told everyone to run, making sure they were all doing so before taking off himself.

"Why are you all just standing there?" Lucius' voice demanded behind them. "Go and get them." The Death Eaters took a quick look at their fallen leader before turning round and chasing the group of students.

"We're not going to outrun them," Hermione warned. Harry looked back round at the group of Death Eaters to find that most of them were already pretty close behind and he cursed under his breath.

"Three Broomsticks," he called, nodding towards it when everyone looked round at him. Draco tried the door, swore when it wouldn't open and then stepped back and blew it up, sending it flying across the room and straight into the rack of glasses, smashing the majority of them. Grabbing Siobhan's arm, he dragged her through the doorway and then flicked his wand to turn over all the tables, providing everyone with some form of cover – even if it wasn't that great. Ron, Aeryn and Luna slipped down behind the one closest to the bar and Harry and Hermione hid behind the one across from that while Ginny and Neville used one of the tables closest to the entrance. Draco and Siobhan stood either side of the door, waiting for a Death Eater to run in.

The first one that came in received a punch straight in the face from Draco that sent him crashing to the floor. He was then pulled into the Pub by Neville and left in the corner tied up with his wand laying a few feet away. The next two came in quick succession of each other and Siobhan grabbed the first ones robes and slammed him against the wall before seemingly thinking better of it and smashing his head through the mirror to their side. He tried to spin round to hit her back, but Siobhan dug her wand into his neck and muttered the stunning curse. She turned round to find Draco throwing the other one over one of the tables – unconscious.

Lucius seemed to have gathered what was happening at this point as the flow of Death Eaters stopped.

"Get out of the way of the door," Harry ordered. Draco looked round briefly and then did as he said, ducking behind one of the tables in time to see the doorway explode, showering him with splinters. Siobhan had taken cover behind another of the tables and didn't look like she'd been hurt too bad. Unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it – the Death Eaters had not been so lucky. They were now covered in splinters and planks of wood and brick.

Everyone was ready when the next lot of Death Eaters came through the door – not that it was much of a door anymore. Big gaping hole may have been more appropriate.

Hermione's spell hit the first Death Eater and he flew backwards, almost taking another with him. Harry and Aeryn's spells both hit the second and he let out a yelp of surprise when he was catapulted up through the ceiling. Ron and Draco's spells made a nasty combination and the Death Eater's head ended up floating round the room while his body tried to catch it. Draco shut his cries of help up with a stunning curse.

It was only when Bellatrix walked through the door that the pointless curse throwing stopped. Draco's table went up in flame straight away and he quickly crawled away from it backwards before it burnt him. Siobhan attempted to aim a spell at her, but the shield she threw up deflected it and sent it flying back in the direction it had come, knocking Siobhan off her feet.

"They're upstairs," Hermione warned, grabbing Harry's arm and pulling him back down behind their table. Harry looked round at the stairs and then grabbed Draco's sleeve as he went to crawl past, dragging him behind the table.

"What are you doing, Potter?" he demanded, yanking his arm away from Harry's grip. Harry pointed upwards and Draco looked up before smiling and sending a _Reducto _curse at the ceiling a few foot to their left. Two Death Eaters fell through the hole, crashing to the floor painfully.

"We need to get out of the shop," Hermione told the two boys. "They can trap us in here easily once they get themselves sorted out." Harry nodded to show that he understood and looked over the table to see what was going on. Bellatrix was still at the door with two Death Eaters flanking her. Aeryn and Luna took care of one of them, knocking him clean off his feet. Harry smiled and hoped the noise he heard was the Death Eaters nose breaking. Ginny and Neville were still crouching down behind their table and Ron was taking care of Draco's unconscious Death Eater – who had woken up and started causing trouble.

"Where should we go?" Harry asked, looking back down at Hermione.

"If we head for the forest, we could probably loose them in there," she replied, after a moments thought. "If not, we'll just make a run for the Shrieking Shack." Harry nodded and made sure Draco knew what they were doing.

"What about Bellatrix?" Draco asked, covering his head as a spell missed it by inches. Hermione looked round for a moment and her eyes settled on one of the smashed glasses behind the counter.

"I have an idea." Harry looked at her quizzically for a moment, but as soon as she picked up some of the broken glass, he got what she was doing and picked up a few pieces of his own.

"We won't be able to get out the door, but we can run upstairs and blow up the walls until we get to the end," she explained. Draco nodded and on the count of three, her and Harry sent the shards of glass hurtling through the air. Bellatrix wasn't fast enough to stop all of them and had to duck out the entrance until they stopped.

"Go!" Hermione ordered, pushing Draco and Harry ahead of her. Everyone else seemed to understand that it was time to leave and they jumped up, following the two boys up the stairs. Bellatrix was getting ready to come back into the Pub, so Hermione levitated a table, set it on fire and threw it in her direction, blocking the door. Ron grabbed her arm as he ran past, dragging her along behind everyone else and the two of them reached the top of the stairs in time to see Draco blowing a hole through the wall into the next building. They ran through before the dust even cleared, not wanting to waste any time and give the Death Eaters a chance to catch up. They wouldn't have long to get through the buildings as it was. If there was one thing the Death Eaters weren't, it was stupid.

"How many buildings are there?" Draco asked, skidding to a halt in front of the next wall and then blasting a hole through it.

"I don't know," Hermione replied. "Six or seven."

"Oh, not that many then," Draco said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Well by all means, if you have a better idea, feel free to share it." Draco looked round at her before destroying the next wall. He made to run through, but stopped at the last minute when he heard voices travelling along behind them. Everyone else looked round too, standing still for a second to make sure that it _was _the Death Eaters chasing them. Then all at once, they spun round and sprinted through to the next building. Hermione and Ron were the last ones through and they quickly sent a few pieces of furniture flying back through the holes they had made, hoping that it would hit someone and better their chances of getting away. The next hole was ready for them by that time and they followed the others through, repeating the process with more furniture.

"Oh, come _on_!" Harry's voice snapped. Hermione looked round as he pushed Draco out of the way and blew up the wall himself.

"Are you alright?" she asked, passing Draco and Siobhan – who had stopped to ask the same thing.

"Fine," Draco breathed, waving his hand. "That many spells in quick succession takes a lot out of you though."

"You'll have more than that to worry about if you don't get moving right now," Ron shouted, pushing the three of them after Harry and the others. Draco nearly fell over, but the two girls grabbed him and kept him on his feet.

"What do we do when we get to the end?" Harry called back, looking round at Hermione. "It's going to be a little bit high up." He blew up the next wall.

"Uh…we jump and hope for the best?" Hermione offered, smiling weakly.

"There's a lower building at the end," Ginny interrupted. "There's a gap between this one and that, but we should be able to make it-"

"If you honestly think furniture is going to stop us, you have another thing coming," a voice called from back the way they came. Everyone but Harry looked round and Hermione searched the room for something to throw at them. There wasn't anything. The room was completely bare except for a small wooden chair in the corner and a plant pot, neither of which she thought would do much damage. The wall exploded behind her and Ron grabbed her arm again, dragging her through. The next wall turned out to be the last one, and just as Ginny said, there was a lower building that they could jump on to. Harry went first and then turned round to make sure everyone else got down safely. Draco didn't quite manage to stay standing on his feet and he fell forward, landing painfully on his wrist.

"You alright?" Harry asked, helping him back up.

"Think I sprained my wrist, but I'll live, don't worry about me." Harry nodded and watched him slip off the roof of the building they were on before turning back round. Siobhan, Ron and Hermione were the last three down and as soon as Hermione's feet touched the roof beside him, Harry took off again, landing just behind Draco on the floor.

"Keep going," he ordered, pointing towards the forest that was now visible beyond the last lot of buildings. Everyone took off again as fast as they could.

"Where did the other Death Eaters go?" Aeryn asked as Harry ran up beside her and Luna so that he would be at the front.

"I have no idea," Harry replied, looking round at her. "I'm just hoping they're all behind us."

"That's reassuring." He smiled and ran first through the alley that would take them out of the Village and into the forest. There wasn't much room and everyone had to run through in single file.

"Hurry up," Ron warned from the back. "They're all out of the building now." Harry looked round briefly and it was only Aeryn yanking him backwards that stopped him running straight into a Death Eater. Whoever it was behind the mask made to grab him and pull him through into the open space but Harry jerked away and then sent him flying backwards with a well aimed curse.

"Through here," Draco called, ramming his shoulder into one of the doors that led into a shop and hoping that it was open or that it broke easily. The lock snapped off on the second hit and everyone followed Draco through, Harry locking the door behind them with the strongest locking charms and shields he could think of that could be cast in under ten seconds.

"Now where?" Neville asked, looking round.

"Stairs," Harry ordered, pushing Aeryn and Luna ahead of him and then following them up. Everyone else had no choice but to follow, and once again they were blowing up a wall into the next shop. Luckily enough, there was no jumping from buildings involved this time and the nine of them stumbled down the stairs and out the back door into another alley. Bellatrix had already discovered what they had done and was already making her way towards them, which only caused them to quicken their pace. Aeryn ran out first and was knocked off her feet by a Death Eater that had been hiding behind the wall. Harry charged into him before he could cast another curse and the two of them fell to the ground. The Death Eaters wand flew off to the side due to the unexpected attack and Harry pressed his own to his throat.

"Off him now," a voice ordered. Harry looked up to find seven wands pointed at him and everyone else filing out of the alley with their hands on the back of their heads. Ron helped Aeryn back to her feet as he passed and then the two of them joined the others.

"Well, you do put up a bit of a fight," Bellatirx commented, smiling and flicking her hand in a motion that told Harry to get off the Death Eater he had wrestled to the floor. Harry reluctantly did as he was told and went to stand beside Hermione. Lucius and Dolohov emerged from the alley they had first run down and Harry looked around the group of assembled Death Eaters, finding Barty Crouch Jr and Blaise's dad standing with their wands at their sides. If all five escaped Death Eaters were _here_, that must mean there were no other groups of them anywhere else. There would have been no one in charge of them. Lucius wouldn't like that.

"I'll have you know," Lucius hissed, pushing past Zambini. "You've almost killed thirteen of my Death Eaters-"

"Really?" Harry asked. "Only thirteen? I thought there were more-"

"Shut up." Harry held his hands up in defence and then crossed his arms, smirking.

"Go and make sure none of them are left in that building," Lucius ordered. Harry thought about telling him to learn to count, but then decided it would probably earn him a _Crucio _curse. A few of the black robed Death Eaters did as they were told, each going in separate entrances.

"Choose a Death Eater and be ready to shoot a curse them," Harry whispered, trying not to make it to obvious that he was talking to everyone else. Lucius was too pre-occupied with trying to sort out which of his Death Eaters he'd lost to worry about Harry though.

"One." The door to the shop they had run through exploded up as the Death Eaters entered.

"Two." There was a lot of noise inside the shops and Harry guessed they were probably sending curses at possible hiding places to make sure that there was no one there – that, or they thought a plant pot might pose a possible threat (you just never knew with Death Eaters…)

"Three." Nine curses all went flying in different directions and Harry was glad they'd all managed to take out a different target. Whoever it was that had aimed at Bellatrix had their curse deflected and the roof of the building beside them fell down, showering them with even more dust than they were already covered in. Then they were running again, not paying much attention to the fact that every time they passed a tree, the branches caught their faces and added to the cuts that were already there. Harry let out a sigh of relief when the Shrieking Shack came into view.

Unfortunately, his theory that there would be no more groups of Death Eaters was wrong. Everyone skidded to a halt as – what Harry hoped – the last six Death Eaters emerged from the Shack with the Head Boy and Head Girl at wand point.

"Oh for Merlin's sake," Ron hissed. "Do they have an infinite supply of Death Eaters or something?"

"Of course," Draco replied. "Didn't you know? They use their magic dust and create more when they need them-"

"I was _trying_ to be serious-"

"Yeah well, you ask a stupid question, Weasley so I gave you a stupid answer-"

"Would you two just shut up," Harry interrupted, glaring at the both of them. Ron snapped his mouth shut and stood as far away from the Slytherin as he could.

"One more time, Potter," Lucius warned, coming up behind them. "And I'm not going to hesitate to kill you." Harry rolled his eyes and looked round to see how many Death Eaters had survived their attack. There were now only the five that had escaped Azkaban and one extra. That meant that there were twelve in total. Including Kristina and Mazin, that meant they were only outnumbered by one.

"Did you get any of them?" Lucius asked, looking past Harry at the six Death Eaters who had come out of the Shrieking Shack.

"No. These two were taking them through a secret passage-"

"It leads back to Hogwarts," Barty warned.

"We figured as much. So we just left them be and took what we could." Everyone watched the exchange quietly, but it was only Draco that noticed how much colour had drained from Siobhan's face the second the Death Eater had started talking.

"The more the merrier, as they say," Barty said, smirking. Lucius slapped him round the back of the head as he walked past to shut him up.

"Now, I was never really a big fan of family reunions-"

"I'll say," Draco muttered under his breath.

"-but I think this one will be interesting." By the time he had finished talking, Lucius was standing beside Mazin, and had grabbed his arm so that the Death Eater holding it could take off their hood. Draco knew without asking that it was Siobhan's dad.

"Now, I believe I told you that your parents wanted something back-"

"And she's already told you," Draco interrupted. "They're not getting it."

"No one asked you, now shut up and give me that book," Lucius hissed, finally loosing his patience with his Son.

"I'm afraid she can't. See, she doesn't _actually _have it with her-"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, I mean, if _you _had something that incriminated you as being a Death Eater, would _you _carry it around with you?" Draco asked, then stopped to think. "No wait, don't answer that. I mean, the black robes and masks are a dead give away anyway, so I'm guessing the answer would be yes-"

"Draco! One more word out of you and I'll have every Death Eater standing here cast the torturing curse on you." Draco's mouth shut with a resounding snap and he glared at his Father and then at Siobhan's, trying to decide which one he'd like to hex more.

"What do you mean you don't have the book with you?" Siobhan's dad asked. "I thought I told you to carry it around with you all the time-"

"It's Valentines Day," Siobhan replied, shrugging.

"Exactly. What looser carries a _bag _around Hogsmeade with them on _Valentines _Day?" Draco interrupted. He stopped for a moment and then added, "What looser _thinks _someone carries a bag around Hogsmeade with them on Valentines Day?"

"Draco!" Lucius shouted, pointing his wand in his Son's direction. "I warned you-" Before he could finish his sentence, his head snapped back as Mazin rammed his fist into his jaw. Everyone quickly sprang into action. The Death Eaters were slower as they hadn't actually expected anyone to be bold enough to start a fight again, which gave everyone time to pull out theirs wands and make a break for the door of the Shrieking Shack.

As his own dad was already bleeding and clearly in a lot of pain and not about to get up any time soon, Draco shot a curse at _Siobhan's_ dad, smiling to himself as he flew half way across the clearing.

Had there only been a few of them, they probably would have got into the building and through the secret passage to Hogwarts easily and quickly, but with eleven of them, there wasn't enough time for them all to get through the front door. Harry, Hermione, Luna and Ginny got through, but as Neville was about to follow, the Death Eaters started sending curses and the remaining seven of them had to run round to the side of the building and use it as cover.

"Well, that didn't quite go as planned," Draco chuckled.

"I'll say," Siobhan replied, smirking. Draco looked round the side of the building and then quickly pulled back to avoid a curse.

"Barty's a bloody violent git when he wants to be," he said, frowning.

"Which one's that?" Siobhan asked, curiously. "The one joking around?"

"Yeah, that's the guy."

"You know," she said, thoughtfully. "If he wasn't trying to kill us and I wasn't got out with you, I wouldn't mind coming to Hogsmeade with him-"

"Siobhan!"

"What!? I'm sorry! I was just _saying_. I mean, he's not half bad-"

"He's trying to _kill _us-"

"I said 'If he wasn't trying to'." Draco looked at her in disbelief and in a way that clearly suggested he thought she'd gone mad for a moment before shaking his head and looked back round to see what was going on.

None of the Death Eaters had really moved from where they had been standing before. Most had gone to help Siobhan's Dad. Bellatrix and Barty were the only two still throwing curses at them.

"What now?" Kristina asked, looking along the wall they were pressed against to see if there was a back door. There wasn't. Draco pulled back and looked at her and then at the building.

"We could always blow a hole in this wall too-"

"It wouldn't stay up," Ron interrupted. "It looks like it's about to fall down anyway."

"Besides," Aeryn added, smiling. "I think we've done enough damage to Hogsmeade for today, don't you?" The two boys mumbled their agreement.

"Right," Draco said, after a few moments of silence. "Is everyone okay to run?" They all nodded and he looked over at Kristina and Mazin.

"Are you both alright to run? They didn't…break any bones? Cast any _Crucio's_?"

"No," Mazin replied, shaking his head.

"Hold on. Blowing up walls?" Kristina asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Merlin, did we say that out loud?" Draco asked, smiling. "If anyone asks, it wasn't us and you heard absolutely nothing."

"In our defence, it was blow up a wall or be thrown _through _the wall. I mean, which one would you choose?" Ron added.

"Anyway," Draco interrupted, looking at the two of them in a way that said 'shut the hell up'. "What do you think? Count of three and we make a wild break for the door?" Everyone nodded and on the Slytherin's count, the lot of them ran round the side of the building as fast as they could towards the open door. It was only as Draco looked up and away from his target that he saw the curse flying towards Siobhan. There wasn't enough time to throw up a shield, so instead, he pushed her out of the way and the spell hit him straight in the chest. He dropped to the floor instantly. Siobhan looked round to see who had cast the curse, before quickly climbing back to her feet.

"Shit, help him up," Ron ordered, grabbing one of his arms. Mazin grabbed the other and the two of them dragged him into the Shack, Siobhan following close behind.

"Lift up the trap door," Ron instructed, nodding his head towards the handle on the floor. Aeryn and Luna did as he said and then hurried down, closely followed by everyone else. Neville closed it behind them and plunged the whole passage into darkness.

"_Lumos_," Siobhan's voice muttered. Everyone looked away as the bright light stung their eyes, then, as soon as they had adjusted, Ron dropped Draco's arm and cast a series of locking and shielding charms on the door.

"Is that you, Ron?" Hermione's voice called from a little further down the tunnel.

"Yeah," Ron called back, not looking away from what he was doing. The four who had gotten into the Shack the first time appeared from where they had been hiding and Hermione rushed over to Draco, whom Mazin had lay down on the floor.

"Is he breathing?" Siobhan asked. Hermione looked up at her pale face and then quickly checked for a pulse.

"Only just," she replied, frowning. "His pulse is really weak. We need to get him to the Hospital Wing quickly-"

"Come on then," Harry interrupted, pulled Draco back up and wrapping one of his arms around his back to keep him up, letting Mazin grab the other. "We need to get going. He's probably not going to last much longer-"

"Neither are those spells," Ron added, looking at the trap door. "They're not very strong and the Death Eaters will get through before long."


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Fourteen**

The eleven of them had all bustled into the Hospital Ward, scaring Madame Pomfrey half to death in the process. They had all but run there, and when you were trying to carry someone else's body weight along with your own, you got rather tired. This is what had made Harry and Mazin drop Draco in the nearest chair to the door. Madame Pomfrey had scolded them for doing something so stupid, but after seeing the state the Slytherin was in she instantly forgot about the two of them and cleared Draco a bed.

Harry had looked around and seen a fair amount of other students lying in beds. Some were asleep – or unconscious – and others were staring at them.

He had looked round as the doors had slammed open and a girl – whom he thought he recognised from their year, and was sure her name was Molly – had come running in, rushing straight over to one of the boys beds. Harry hadn't meant to, but he had listened to their conversation and was sure that he heard Bernard – that's what she'd called him – say that he had been in one of the robe shops (looking for a new school tie) when the Death Eaters had come. Apparently when the Death Eaters had sent a curse at the shop, the counter had exploded and sent everything on it flying across the room. He was the unfortunate person who was on the receiving end of a pair of flying scissors. It was when Harry looked at him that he saw the bandages wrapped around his waist where they must have hit him.

That was hours ago. Molly had been kicked out by Madame Pomfrey who had insisted – due to the large amount of people that were in the Hospital Wing – that there would be no visitors or people who didn't need to be treated.

Along with Draco, Siobhan had been given a bed because of a rather painful looking injury on her shoulder – a large splinter of wood had caused a deep cut when The Three Broomsticks doorway exploded. However, even if she hadn't hurt herself, Harry doubted she would have left Draco's bedside with the condition he was in. Aeryn was also given a bed as Madame Pomfrey told her that she had cracked a few ribs when the Death Eater had sent a curse at her. The only other three people who had been given beds were the Trio. Ron and Harry had both exhausted themselves due to the combination of spells and running that they had done in quick succession of each other. Hermione was given a bed mostly because Madame Pomfrey knew that the second she walked out of the Wing, the Aurors would be there, asking what had happened, and though she wasn't quite as worn out as Harry and Ron, she was _definitely _in no condition to go through the same story at least three times to various groups of people. Everyone else was asked to leave and was given a potion to ease any pain that was being caused by the cuts, scratches and bruises they had received in the attack.

Fortunately, all the students had returned from Hogsmeade – most of them unharmed. The First and Seconds years had, had their last lesson cancelled so that the teachers could take care of everyone else. A few Aurors had gone down to the Village after they had arrived to find any of the teachers that had been left behind. McGonagall was still unconscious when they brought her back and she was given the bed in Madame Pomfrey's office that Harry supposed was only used for teachers or when there were no beds _at all _left in the main ward. Flitwick had also been left in the Village, but he came back unharmed and was given the same potion as the students to ease the pain being caused by an angry blue and black bruise left on his forehead.

Madame Pomfrey had ordered everyone to sleep around half eleven, and most of the students had, had no problem obliging. Two people were having no such luck. Aeryn and Siobhan. Siobhan refused to go to sleep in case Draco woke up, and though she was completely exhausted, no matter how much she tried, sleep just wouldn't take her.

The clock hanging above her on the wall told her that it was now two in the morning and she gave up, sitting up in the bed and trying to make as little noise as possible while walking over to Draco's bed. She checked Madame Pomfrey's office door to make sure that the Nurse was asleep and hoped that the fact that her light was off meant that she was. Only then did she look down at Draco.

His wrist was wrapped in a bandage and hadn't been properly mended yet as Madame Pomfrey didn't know what the spell had done to him and didn't want to give him anything in the event that it would make him worse. Siobhan could only hear his breathing if she listened _very _close and if it weren't for the rise and fall of his chest, she would have thought that he was dead – his face was deathly pale and he felt cold.

Siobhan took another look over at the Nurse's office and then brought her hand up to trace one of the cuts on his cheek, almost dying of fright when a voice whispered behind her, "Couldn't sleep either, hmm?"

She recognised the voice immediately and was unsurprised when she turned round and found Aeryn laying on her bed, with her eyes open looking at her. She wasn't sure that the other girl could even see her, but Siobhan shook her head anyway and then turned back round to look at Draco, pulling her hand away from his face to rest on the bar at the side of his bed.

She heard the rustling of bed covers behind her, and when she looked round, she saw Aeryn sitting up in bed, her back resting against the headboard. Despite her better judgement, she left Draco's side and went to sit on the end of Aeryn's bed, not once looking at her.

"He'll be alright, you know," Aeryn assured her, nodding over at Draco when Siobhan looked up.

"How do you know?" Siobhan asked, sourly, talking for the first time.

"I hear Madame Pomfrey is a brilliant Nurse. One of the best, as it happens. She wouldn't let anything happen to him."

"I hope not." Siobhan brought her legs up onto the bed and wrapped her arms around her knees, before resting her chin on top of them and staring at Draco. The two girls sat in silence for a moment before Siobhan turned her head to look at Aeryn.

"Remember when we used to be best friends?" she asked, almost smiling, despite the situation they were in.

"Of course," Aeryn replied, smiling back. "And we used to cause complete chaos everywhere we went-"

"That was _you-_"

"Hey no, I'm not taking all the credit," Aeryn objected, smirking. "It was both of us-"

"-at different times of course. We each had our moments every now and then-"

"-never at the same time though," Aeryn added, thoughtfully.

"Do you remember," Siobhan started, chuckling and looking up at her former best friend. "When we went to the Village with Peter King and David Walsh?" Aeryn laughed as Siobhan started to recount the story.

"When we were in the sweet shop and then let off a firework and the whole place went up in flame-"

"-and because they'd warmed all the sweets up, they all got stuck in their hair-"

"-and they had to cut the whole lot off."

"Oh, that was funny," Siobhan said, burying her face in her knees to muffle the laughter. She _did _remember that day in their third year _very _well. Especially the look on both their dates faces when the Nurse had told them that she _would not _get the sweets out. When she looked up, Aeryn was already looking at her.

"So, what changed?" Siobhan asked.

"You found out my parents were Muggles-"

"-and you found out that mine were Death Eaters," Siobhan finished, suddenly remembering why the two of them had stopped talking. "I remember now. Though, you needn't have been so horrible about it-"

"May I remind you, that it was _you _that called me a Mudblood before I called you…whatever it was I called you? I don't even remember now." Siobhan thought about it for a moment before shaking her head.

"No, I don't remember, either." The two of them fell into silence again.

"Did we _really _stop talking _just _because of that?" Aeryn asked.

"Well _you _held a grudge for me calling you a Mudblood-"

"I _did not_. I forgave you _ages _ago-"

"You never said sorry for shouting at _me-_"

"I said I don't hold grudges. Not that I apologise to people," Aeryn pointed out, smirking. Siobhan shrugged and looked back over at Draco.

"Wanna call it a truce then?" she asked, not looking round. "I'm sorry. You're sorry. We needn't hate each other any more." She didn't look at Aeryn for a moment, but when the other girl didn't reply, she _did _look round to find out why.

"Well?" she asked, expectantly. Aeryn finally nodded.

"Truce." Siobhan smiled and was just about to ask her if she remembered something else when she heard someone stir over the other side of the room. It was only when she looked over that she saw it was Draco. She was off the bed faster than a bullet and was at her boyfriend's bedside.

"Draco?" she asked, uncertainly, not sure whether he was waking up or not. His eyes snapped open on her second call and seemed to fix on her, though Siobhan thought he looked more like he was looking through her than at her.

"Siobhan?"

"Thank Merlin," Siobhan breathed. "Are you alright? Hold on, I'll just go and get Madame Pomfrey." Siobhan turned to go to the Nurses office, but when she looked round, Aeryn was climbing up from her bed.

"I'll get her," she said, nodding towards the door and smiling. Siobhan nodded gratefully and looked back round at Draco.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"My head feels like crap," Draco replied trying to sit up in the bed and closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead. "Feels like someone pushed me off my broom and I landed on my head. It's really dark-"

"It's the middle of the night," Siobhan interrupted. "I can hardly see you, actually."

"Move," a voice ordered and Siobhan felt herself being pushed roughly out of the way. She fell against the wall and glared at the Nurse, daring her silently to try something like that ever again.

"Mr. Malfoy, are you alright?" Madame Pomfrey demanded, putting a hand on his forehead to check his temperature. Draco turned his head away so that her hand would fall off and her replied with a somewhat annoyed, 'I'm alright. I have a headache and my wrist hurts.' Madame Pomfrey seemed to remember that she hadn't done anything to help heal his hand she directed Aeryn over to one of the cupboards at the other end of the room to get her a potion.

"How long ago did he wake up?" she demanded, rounding on Siobhan.

"I-I don't know," Siobhan admitted, shrugging. "About three or four minutes ago."

"Okay. At least you didn't have him awake for a long time before coming to get me. Thank you, dear." Aeryn handed her the potion and then sat next to the bed beside them so that she could see what was going on without being in the way.

"Drink that," Madame Pomfrey ordered, shoving a cup of green liquid in the Slytherins direction. Draco wrinkled his nose at the smell and then downed the whole thing in one go, almost bringing it straight back up again due to the horrible taste of it. The Nurse clicked her tongue and then conjured him up a glass of water to get rid of the taste – which it really didn't.

"Now, I want you to tell me _exactly _where you're hurt," she said, looked sternly at Draco, who was turning his head this way and that, a confused look on his face. "Mr. Malfoy?"

"What? Look, could we turn some lights on? I don't like not being able to see who I'm talking to." Madame Pomfrey let out an annoyed huff and pulled out her wand, flicking it so that a light appeared above Draco's bed and no one else's.

"There, the lights are on, now-"

"Oh…" Draco muttered in a small voice, still looking around, confused.

"- I want you to tell me anything that hurts or anything that seems out of the ordinary. Any pain in your head, arms legs? Nausea? Dizziness-?"

"Well," he started, looking in her direction. "There is this one thing."

"What?"

"Umm…well…I can't actually _see_…"

----

Lucius stormed into the dining hall of the Death Eater hide-out angrily, Barty trailing behind him with an amused look on his face. The few Death Eaters that were in the room made a hasty retreat, gathering up anything they didn't want to leave in there, frightened that Lucius may take his anger out on their possessions.

"I can't _believe _we lost that many-"

"I did tell you that a frontal assault on Hogsmeade of all places would be a bad idea-" Lucius interrupted him with an annoyed growl, but Barty continued.

"I mean, if it had been anywhere else, I suppose you may have had a better chance, but going straight into the 'Kill Potter' thing-"

"Barty," Lucius growled in warning. Barty stopped and smirked, leaning against the wall and closing the door without looking away from his new Master. Lucius pulled out one of the chairs around the large dining table and sat down in it, trying to calm his breathing so that he wouldn't destroy the room. Barty knew better than to distract him and was about to open the door and leave again when the one over the other side of the room opened to reveal three teenage boys. Lucius looked up and his face dropped when he saw who was standing there. Blaise Zambini was leading; Crabbe and Goyle followed him like sheepdogs. Barty closed the door. He _had _to see how this turned out.

"How did you get here?" Lucius asked, looking up at them.

"We went to the head count in the Great Hall and then instead of going back to our Common Room, we got off the grounds and apparated." Barty nodded his head in approval – so that Lucius couldn't see it. Blaise had obviously hit his head and become momentarily smart to be able to pull that one off by himself.

"Well, now that you're here, it saves me the trouble of writing a letter," Lucius continued, standing up and walking to the chair at the front of the room, that – since the Death Eaters had moved here – had become _his _chair. Barty perked up at the fact that Lucius had been about to send a letter and the boys looked excited that their new Master would even _consider _doing such a thing.

_This should be interesting, _Barty thought, pulling out a chair and resting his legs over one arm and his back against the other so that he could be comfortable while listening to the conversation.

"Now, I want to _really _get to Potter," Lucius was saying, the trademark Malfoy sneer plastered on his face. "I want to make him pay for the amount of Death Eaters I lost today." The three boys nodded, eager to prove their worth to their Master. Barty scowled at them. They would have _never _gotten away with such incompetence in front of the Dark Lord.

"Do you know how we're going to do that, boys?" The nodding carried on for a few moments, but as Lucius said this, it stopped instantly and the three boys looked at each other, confused. Then they looked back at Lucius, helplessly.

"We…send a killing curse at him?" Crabbe offered, weakly. "It would kill him instantly and there would be no mess-"

"No," Lucius replied, trying to keep his patience. "No. That's not how we're going to get him. We're going to go for his…" The sentence was left hanging, as Lucius obviously expected an answer. The three boys were still at a loss for what they were meant to say.

"Money?"

"No, his heart!" Lucius snapped, annoyed. The boys jumped at his sudden outburst and cowered away a little, expecting him to take out his anger on one of them. He didn't however, and slowly took a few breaths to calm himself down before repeating what he'd just said. "We're going to get Potter through his heart."

"Oh…" the boys chorused, obviously only pretending to understand what in Merlin's name Lucius was talking about. Barty resisted the urge to chuckle and instead looked back at Lucius.

"And boys, do you know how we're going to _do _that?"

"We…uh…" Goyle trailed off and looked around at the other two hopefully. There was silence for a few moments before Crabbe's eyes lit up.

"We stab him through the heart with a stake!"

"He's not a _Vampire_," Blaise replied, rolling his eyes and looking at the other boy.

"A steak?" Goyle interrupted, looking at his companion. "Don't you _eat _those?"

"No," Crabbe corrected. "A _wooden _stake-"

"But stakes are _round_. It wouldn't be sharp enough-"

"No, a sharp stake…" Lucius slapped his hand to his forehead and let out a noise somewhere between a groan and a growl. The groan was for the stupidity of the three boys in front of him and the growl was annoyance at the fact that it should have been his son standing in front of him taking these orders.

"So…it's like a nail…made of wood?"

"A _big _nail made of wood."

"So…you'd need a really big hammer to get it in then?"

"Yes."

"But it's not an edible steak, so you wouldn't be able to eat it?"

"No."

"But then it's not a steak. And it would be awful messy-"

"ENOUGH!" Lucius ordered, slamming his fist down on the arm of his chair and making everyone in the room – including Barty – jump.

"We are _not _going to stab him through the heart with a stake-"

"How about eating steaks? Are we going to do that?"

"NO!" Goyle grabbed hold of Crabbe and pushed him in front of him as Lucius rose from his chair.

"What I mean by getting him through his heart is that we are going to get his girlfriend-"

"Who's his-?"

"Granger," Barty interrupted on seeing Lucius about to completely lose his temper with the three of them.

"He's going out with that _Mudblood_?" Crabbe asked.

"There's an article about it in the newspaper-"

"He can't _read_," Goyle huffed, looking at Blaise. He thought about what he had said for a moment and then added, "Neither can I…"

"I don't care whether you can _read_. All I need _you three _to do is come up with a way to get Granger. That's not too difficult for you, is it?"

"No, sir!" Goyle whimpered, still cowering behind his friend.

"Now, tell me boys, what are you going to do to Potter?"

"We're going to hurt him."

"How?"

"Through his heart. By hurting Granger."

"Well done. Now get the _hell _out of this room before I decide you'll make better Christmas decorations than you will Death Eaters." Goyle was the first to make a dash for the door and Barty _almost _burst out laughing when, as soon as the boy stepped into the corridor, he tripped over his own feet in his haste to get away and landed flat on his face. Blaise and Crabbe helped him up and closed the door, blocking off Barty's view of whatever it was they did next.

"You think they'll _actually _come up with something?" Barty asked, looking up at Lucius.

"No," Lucius confessed. "It was the only way I could keep them out of the way though. Besides, they don't _need _to come up with anything for Granger. I've already sorted her out."

----

Siobhan had lost count of how many tests Madame Pomfrey had run on Draco since two o'clock that morning when he'd told her that he couldn't see anything. Aeryn was still sitting on the bed beside her at seven when everyone else began to wake up, and the Nurse was _still _no closer to finding out what was wrong than she had been five hours previously.

Siobhan wished that everyone would just go away so that she could talk to Draco. Her wish was granted at eight when Madame Pomfrey ordered everyone back to their own beds. She let them all go ahead, and when she was sure that they were out of earshot, she hurried to Draco's side.

"She's not going to be able to find out what's wrong with you, you know," Siobhan said, solemnly.

"Why not?" Draco asked, trying to look in the right direction by using the sound of her voice as a guide.

"My Mum cast that spell."

"So?"

"So," Siobhan said, glaring at him. "If _she _cast it, and Madame Pomfrey didn't know it straight away. Then…then it must be from that book that I have, right?" Draco thought about this for a moment before nodding.

"That makes sense. Are you going to tell her this?"

"Are you mad? Of course I'm not-"

"So you're just going to let me be blind for the rest of my life?"

"Draco, that's not fair!"

"People _know _you're not a Death Eater and you can _willingly _take Veritaserum to prove it in a court-"

"I am _not _going to court-"

"What you're trying to say then, is 'I'd rather you be blind forever than I go to court-"

"That is _not _what I am trying to say. You know-"

"I don't know actually," Draco replied. "I _do _know that _you _don't want to help me-"

"Oh, look, if you're going to be like that," Siobhan huffed, turning around to walk away. Draco obviously wasn't quite finished yet, as he reached forward and in a moment of complete luck, managed to grab her arm.

"Ow, Draco, my shoulder." His angry demeanour fell instantly and he released his grip, an apologetic look on his face.

"I didn't know it still hurt-"

"I hurt it again."

"Oh…I-I didn't know."

Siobhan sighed and sat on the end of his bed. "I know you didn't. Look, Draco, you have to understand. I _can't _just hand over that book. If my parents got arrested and convicted because of the evidence _I've _given…" Her voice trailed off and she looked at him. "Draco, it wouldn't matter to them that I was their daughter. They'd still want me dead."

"Look, I over-reacted. I'm just annoyed that I can't see anything. There's no saying that Madame Pomfrey won't find a cure for this, right?"

"Right?"

"Good." The room descended into silence and it was broken by Siobhan saying, "I'm sitting at the end of your bed."

"What?" Draco asked, confused.

"You asked where I was…" Siobhan's voice trailed off, as she realised a second too late that she'd slipped up and let out the thing she had almost been about to tell him the first time they met. "I should probably go back to my own bed-"

"No you don't," Draco replied, jerking forward and managing to grab her round the waist. "How did you know what I was thinking?"

"I didn't," Siobhan tried. "I-It was the way you were looking round the room-"

"As if. Come on, I know you're keeping something back here." Siobhan sighed and sat back down on the bed properly.

"This is another one of those 'you-can't-tell-anyone' secrets," she warned.

"Go on."

"Alright. My Dad taught me that the best way to fight an opponent is to know what goes on inside their head. So he used to teach me…from about…5 years old-"

"Are you telling me," Draco started, looking at her warily. "That you're a Legilimens?"

"Umm…perhaps?"

"Straight answer, Siobhan," Draco demanded.

"Okay, yes…but I _swear_, I don't deliberately look into your head or anything-"

"How can you do it without me noticing?"

"Something my Dad discovered how to do. I suppose it's one of their research projects. He only told a select few people how to do it. Even You-Know-Who didn't know about it-"

"Swear to me _right this second _that you will _never,_ ever look in my head-"

"Draco, I honestly swear on my life-"

"Heeeey, little bro!" a voice interrupted from the doorway. Siobhan looked round and found two red-haired twins making a bee-line for Ron's bed. Aeryn was sitting next to him, looking at the two twins warily.

"How you holding up?" Fred asked, clapping Ron on the back.

"See you didn't try to protect your girlfriend," George commented, looking at the scratches and bruises on Aeryn's face and arms.

"I suppose you just let her stand there and have curses thrown at her-"

"Hey! I did no such thing!" Ron objected.

"You're a Gryffindor, Ronnie-kins!" George said, rolling his eyes.

"Where's that _Lion _bravery?" The two twins made claws with their hands and roared, moving forward so that they were both in Ron's face.

"You two are such stupid tossers," Ron scoffed, pushing them both away. "Why the hell are you here anyway?"

"Oh, you know…we wanted to see how our dear old brother was doing-"

"I'm not stupid. There's an ulterior motive behind coming here." The twins looked at each other and smiled.

"Okay, fine, our girlfriends are here-"

"You what?" Ron asked, sitting bolt upright in his bed.

"They're Aurors, not students-"

"No," Ron interrupted. "I don't care who they are. I meant 'You _have _girlfriends'?"

"Oh funny," George said. "Hey Fred, he's trying to be smart."

"Oh he _is_, is he?" Fred asked, raising an eyebrow.

"So, Aeryn, how are you?" George asked, not taking his eye off his brother as he walked round the bed to wrap his arm around Aeryn.

"I'm…fabulous…" Aeryn replied, looking sideways at Ron, helplessly.

"Oh really?"

"No morning sickness yet then-"

"Get the _hell _out!" Ron ordered, his face turning every shade of red imaginable. The twins laughed and hurried out of reach.

"Don't worry; we'll help you arrange your wedding-"

"-pink flowers-"

"-congratulations balloons-"

"pictures-"

"-cakes-"

"-and banners welcoming the two new additions to the family-"

"Piss OFF!"

"Of course, if you're pregnant, that takes the fun out of the Honeymoon, doesn't it-"

"I'm _warning _you…" Ron threatened.

"-I don't actually think mum believes in…" Fred trailed off and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively before continuing. "Before marriage."

"Yeah," George added. "It may be best to have the wedding as soon as possible so that she doesn't get all suspicious and everything-"

"She so _does _believe in…" Ron's face turned red and he added 'sex' in almost inaudibly before finishing, "before marriage. Bill was born before-"

"Oh, so now you're admitting that you _did _do it!"

"NO! I-I never said that-"

"But you were _implying _it-"

"-which is good enough for us."

"Oh _just wait_ until Ginny hears about this. Just _wait_!"

"Guys! Don't you dare tell her!" Ron ordered, watching the twins walk out the door. "FRED! GEORGE!" The room was deathly silent after the two of them had left, and the last person _anyone _had expected to break it – broke it.

"Oh, Weasley, you landed yourself _right _into that one-"

"Oh, shut up, Malfoy," Ron sulked, burying his face in his hands and not daring to meet Aeryn's gaze. Harry and Hermione looked at each other, not sure whether they should laugh or comfort their best friend and finally decided on just staying quiet.

"Oh…and don't think we didn't hear you…" a voice was saying out in the corridor. Everyone looked round as the two twins came back in through the doors, this time being dragged by two girls. Harry was sure he'd seen them yesterday with the Aurors and decided that these must be the girlfriends Fred and George were talking about.

"Now apologise to your brother," one of the girls said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Sorry, Ronnie," Fred mumbled, sheepishly.

"George?"

"Sorry." Ron looked up after both apologies and smiled.

"Are you joking? You got my brothers to _apologise_?" The girls smiled and looked at each other.

"You going to introduce us to the brother you constantly terrorize?" one girl asked, looking at Fred, who instantly perked up.

"Of course. Ronnie-kins, this is Grace and Hayley. They're in their first year of training to be Aurors-"

"-and we met them both shopping in Hogsmeade," George finished.

"And…you're mad enough to go out with those too?" Ron asked.

"Of course," Grace replied, smiling.

"Well, I have four words to say to you. Good Luck with that."

**From AJ – Yes, I know I missed a few things out Siobhan, but they'll be in the next chapter. **

**Also, did you look at the initials of the two guys you and I went to the Village with – who blew up the sweet shop? If not, do so now!! NOW!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Fifteen**

_Potter and Malfoy – The Destructive Duo!_

_The Ministry reported yesterday afternoon that the damages in Hogsmeade will cost them well over 1 million galleons to fully repair. Honeydukes, Madame Pudfoots, The Hog's Head and The Three Broomsticks – four of the most popular buildings in the Village – were all terribly damaged during the Death Eater raid. A few objects of Historical Value in Mystique's Antique's were also destroyed beyond repair and are irreplaceable, which means that the Ministry will have no other option but to pay the full price for each and every one of these objects. _

_There have been reports of serious injuries in the Village, including Minerva McGonagall – Headmistress at Hogwarts – and a few of the students that attend the Wizarding School. The Ministry, however, are still trying to keep information about who was killed during the attack a secret._

_While we know that Death Eaters _were _present during the attack, we cannot be sure that they were the ones who initiated the fighting-_

"Are they being serious?" Ron exploded, slamming his fist down on the table in anger. The Trio, Aeryn, Siobhan and Draco had been discharged from the Hospital Wing earlier that morning and were currently sitting in a small room that the Room of Requirement had come up with for them. Ron hadn't really understood _why _Siobhan and Draco were there, but Aeryn had insisted that they come.

"Ron, I told you not to interrupt," Hermione scolded, looking over that morning's edition of the _Daily Prophet _at him.

"I'm sorry," he replied, sounding anything _but_. "But that's complete rubbish. They _know _damn well that it was the Death Eaters. Who else would have 'initiated' it?"

"Well if you'd shut up, I could read the rest and maybe we'd find out," Hermione said, glaring at him. "And don't swear." Draco snickered and Ron looked over at him scathingly, somewhat put out that he couldn't see the glare he was sending in his direction.

"I didn't think anyone _was _killed," Siobhan added, before Hermione could start reading again.

"I don't think they were," Harry replied. "It's just the _Prophet _trying to stir things up again." Taking everyone's silence as a cue to continued, Hermione turned her attention back to the paper.

_Reports have confirmed that both Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were present during the attack, and the few people that witnessed the scene tell us that the two boys were responsible for most of the damage caused. They are reported to have provoked the Death Eaters by taunting them and threatening them-_

Ron couldn't keep his anger in any longer and he growled in annoyance, "I don't _believe _them! The Death Eaters _willingly _served You-Know-Who and they sound like they're trying to _protect _them!"

"They're not," Draco interrupted, looking over towards the direction he thought Ron's voice was coming from. "Potter and myself trying to over-throw the Ministry and take control of the Death Eaters just sells more newspapers than Death Eaters attacking a remote Wizarding Village."  
"Draco's right," Hermione added, ignoring the loathing look Ron sent her when she used the Slytherin's first name. "It's a more interesting story-"

"But after all Harry's done for them!" Ron exclaimed in disbelief. "The _least _they could do would be to give him a break from all this crap-"

"They'd never do that, Ron," Harry replied. "You _know _that."

_After leading the Death Eaters into the trap they had laid in The Three Broomsticks, Masters Potter and Malfoy then proceeded to use any resources they had at their disposal to take the Death Eaters out – probably to try and control them later by means of the Imperious Curse. _

_However, when that part of their trap failed to go according to plan, the Death Eaters were led on a wild chase through the buildings adjoining the Pub. _

_Of course, the two Hogwarts students were not working alone…_

_The 'club' that was set-up – despite the rulings of the Ministry – in the Duo's Fifth Year had many members that were only too happy to assist them – obviously in exchange for some sort of power when the two are triumphant. _

_It has been reported that the Head Girl and Boy at Hogwarts helped, along with seven members of the PA-_

"Oh you're _joking_!" Ron huffed, trying to grab the paper. "The _P_A? They can't even get the damn name right!"

"I suppose they changed it so that it stood for 'Potters Army', or something equally ridiculous," Aeryn interrupted, sending Ron a warning glance that told him to control his temper. "They got the numbers wrong as well."

"There were only 5 members of the DA at Hogsmeade," Hermione explained on Harry and Ron's confused looks. "Ginny, Neville, Luna and the two of us." Hermione finished by pointing at herself and Ron.

"Keep reading," Draco said. "I want to hear what other crap they have to say." Hermione contemplated scolding him for his language, but decided against the idea and returned to the article, leaning back as Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulder so that he could read it too.

_Does this victory against the Death Eaters now mean that the two have replaced He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as their leader? _

_None of the Death Eaters were taken into custody, as they had already left by the time Aurors got there. However, did the duo assist them in their escape in return for a place as their 'minions'? _

"Were do they come up with this shit?" Ron groaned, burying his head in his arms and laying them on the table.

"We have 'minions' Potter," Draco chuckled, smirking. "I call dibs on the female population of Death Eaters." Despite the fact that it _was _Draco Malfoy, Harry laughed.

"There's only two," he replied. "And I'm all set thank you. I have a girlfriend."

"Well so do I," Draco replied, defensively. "But it doesn't stop me from admiring members of the opposite sex."

"But you can't se– OW!" Ron howled in pain as Aeryn kicked him in the shin under the table to shut him up. Draco's joking mood – that was rarely seen – had suddenly disappeared at Ron's thoughtless comment.

"Sorry," Aeryn breathed, putting on the most innocent look she could muster. "Was that your leg, Ron?"

"Yes," Ron hissed through gritted teeth, glaring at her to which she smiled in return. As soon as he had looked away, Aeryn looked up and caught Siobhan's eye, mouthing a 'sorry'. Siobhan shook her head and shrugged to show that it didn't matter – Draco would be fine in a few minutes.

"Can I _please _continue, now?" Hermione asked, looking round at them.

_There is still no news on how the Ministry will deal with Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy after the evidence that has mounted up against them. There is word however that the Ministry are trying to find out which student cast which spell, so that the appropriate punishments can be handed out to each of them. _

"Can they do that?" Harry asked, sitting up in his chair, still looking at the paper over Hermione's shoulder.

"They can call us to a hearing and sentence us to…say…a month or so in Azkaban for serious criminal damage," Draco replied. "Or they can fine us. Of course, with the amount of money I have in my newly inherited bank account, I don't think finance will be a problem, do you?"

"Still…" Harry said, uncertainly, frowning at the sentence on the paper. "That seems a bit…unfair. We were defending ourselves."

"You know they don't care. McGonagall probably wouldn't let them anyway. Nor will Mr. Weasley," Hermione assured him, though she didn't look entirely sure of what she was telling him herself.

"They wouldn't dare," Ron said. "Harry saved them from You-Know-Who. They might think they'll need him in the future or something."

"Oh, do be serious, Ron," Hermione sighed, rolling her eyes and looking back down at the small section of the article remaining.

_Sources within the Ministry have also reported that they were at least four unknown Death Eaters included in the attack. We think that – by putting all the evidence together – these Death Eaters are somehow related to Amahan Wizarding Academy (Australia) and therefore to certain members of the school that have now moved to the UK to continue their education. _

_Reporters here at the _Daily Prophet _are still trying to piece a few things together, but we should have more to report when that is complete. _

_For now, this reporter once again leaves you with the same question I have asked before. _

_Do you think it wise to let Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy stay at Hogwarts? _

_Turn to page 3 for more information on this story_

_Turn to page 6 for information on Harry Potter's latest romance_

Harry read the last part and then snatched the paper away from Hermione so that he could read what they had to say this time about him and Hermione.

"What does page six say?" Draco asked, curiously. Harry looked up at him and then back down at the paper before smiling.

"Apparently Hermione's cheating on me with you," he replied.

"Is originality a sin?" Draco mused, shaking his head in disgust.

"Apparently you're pregnant," Harry chuckled, looking down at Hermione who rolled her eyes and looked at the paper which he was now holding.

"Whose is it?" Ron asked, amused. "Yours or Malfoy's?" Hermione glared at him and picked up the envelope of the letter Harry had received from Remus – telling him that he needed to talk to them later that day – and screwed it up in a ball before throwing it at Ron's head. He ducked and the paper sailed over his head to which he came up smiling, only to have Hermione pull out her wand and bring the ball of paper straight back round into the back of his head. Harry laughed at the look of shock on his best friends face and then folded the paper in half before throwing it on the table in front of them.

Draco hadn't made a big deal out of being blind, or about the fact that Harry had sworn to protect him and had clearly not done a brilliant job of this. They only reason for this was that Draco had _thrown _himself in front of a spell that had been meant for Siobhan, not him. He also only made Harry to promise he would protect him if he could. Seeing as Harry wasn't there at the time that would have been impossible. Harry was glad. The last thing he needed on his mind was Draco Malfoy trying to extract revenge on him

"We should probably head to lunch soon," he said before Ron made an argument out of the paper throwing with Hermione.

"Good," Ron replied, rubbing his hands together. "I'm _starved_. I haven't eaten since-"

"Breakfast?" Aeryn asked, looking at him and rolling her eyes. "Which was only three hours ago?" Ron shrugged and said something under his breath about 'growing boy; need food'.

"You don't need to grow any more thank you very much," Hermione said, standing up from her chair and pulling Ron from his so that she could show him that she barely came up to his chin. "You're tall enough as it is."

"Hmm…" Ron mused, straightening himself to his full height and looking down at his friend. "I like being tall." Hermione laughed and shoved him backwards before walking off towards the door. Harry smiled and followed her, grabbing Ron and Aeryn's arms on the way past to drag them out of the room.

"You two coming?" Aeryn asked, looking back through the door at Siobhan and Draco.

"You go ahead," Siobhan replied, rising from her chair and reaching her hand out to help Draco up from his. "We'll be there in a minute." Aeryn nodded and closed the door behind her as she took off down the corridor to catch up with the Trio.

"Well, that was unusually pleasant," Draco said, feeling blindly for Siobhan's hand, which she ended up having to place in his own.

"You didn't see the death glares Weasley was sending you for the whole hour," Siobhan replied.

"Ah. I knew I was missing something." Draco had declined the use of a walking stick or anything that would make him look equally as disabled and instead settled for resting his hand on Siobhan's shoulder and letting her guide him through Hogwarts. He had to make sure that he only touched her right shoulder as the left one was still wrapped in bandages and a little tender.

"What did you do to your shoulder?" Draco asked, the concentration of trying to hold the right shoulder setting off his curiosity.

"I hurt it in The Three Broomsticks-"

"No," he corrected as she began to walk towards the door slowly so that he could keep up. "I mean before that. Madame Pomfrey said that you had most likely broken it before that Quidditch Match. What happened?"

"My Dad was teaching me how to duel," Siobhan explained, pausing while she pulled the doors open and checked down the corridor for any passing students. When she was sure that there weren't any – they didn't want the younger years knowing about the Room of Requirement – she stepped out and closed the doors behind them. Then, once Draco's hand was back on her shoulder and they were walking again, she continued, "I got in a curse – that seemed rather painful – and he got annoyed and sent a volley of them at me. One of them was a _Reducto _curse and the force of it broke my shoulder as well as making it bleed non-stop for the next three weeks."

"Sounds painful."

"Oh, it was."

"How old were you?" Draco asked, curiously.

"Seven or eight."

"Ouch."

"Yep," Siobhan said, and then added, "Stairs." Draco's grip on her shoulder tightened and she slowed down so that he could feel with his feet for the edge of each step. Walking up and down stairs while Draco was blind was never going to be an easy task and they had to go a lot slower than usual so that he wouldn't fall and hurt himself. Siobhan dreaded trying to get him back to Slytherin Common later that night. She dreaded even more the unavoidable encounter they would have with Blaise Zambini, who wouldn't hesitate for one second to taunt Draco over something else. Siobhan wondered whether he was dreading the same thing, but she daren't ask him. He'd only bite her head off, and looking in his head was out of the question. She _had _sworn not to after all.

They caught up with Harry, Hermione, Ron and Aeryn in the Entrance Hall, and Siobhan supposed Aeryn had told the other three to wait so that the two Slytherin's wouldn't have to walk into the Hall alone with Blaise already there. This way, there would be less chance of a fight or argument breaking out in front of the whole school.

"You alright?" Hermione asked, looking at Draco, even though he couldn't see that she was doing so.

"I'm fine," he said, somewhat annoyed. His tone of voice shut Hermione up, and he quickly added, "But I could really do with whatever spell they put on the girls dormitory stairs on all the others in the school right now, minus the screaming of course."

"At least it's not just Godric Gryffindor that didn't trust the male population of his students," Harry replied, smirking and remembering when he and Ron had tried to get up the stairs. Ron chuckled at the memory and on Aeryn's confused look, quickly began to explain, following everyone else into the Hall.

As it was only lunch, not many of the teachers were present, nor were most of the students there. Their lunch was spread out over an hour, so people just came and went as they pleased. Draco and Siobhan left for Slytherin table and the Trio and Aeryn sat down in front of Demetrie, who had been beckoning them over.

"Where's Ailish?" Hermione asked, after a moment of thought about his girlfriend's name.

"In her room I think," he replied, waving his hand dismissively. "The other girls pulled her off screaming about a new hair style or something stupid like that." Hermione nodded and smiled at his now bright yellow hair that actually burnt her eyes if she looked at it too long. Demetrie seemed to pick up on this and it reverted to its normal blue colour while he sent her an apologetic look.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you what you wanted for your Birthday," he said, looking over at Aeryn. "It wouldn't do for your best friend to get you nothing."

"Oh, well I don't know," Aeryn replied, uncertainly. "You could…er-"

"It's your Birthday?" Ron asked, alarmed. "What? When?"

"The fifth of March," Demetrie replied for Aeryn could.

"Four days after yours," Aeryn added, smiling when Ron blushed a faint pink.

"How do you know when _my _Birthday is, but I don't know when yours is?"

"I asked Hermione."

"Oh." Ron looked over at Hermione – who was too engrossed in her conversation with Harry to hear her name being said – and sighed. He _should _have found out when Aeryn's Birthday was.

"Well, now that I _do _know what it is, I'm with Demetrie. What would like me to get you?"

"I honestly have no idea," she replied, shrugging her shoulders and grabbing a bread roll from the plate in the middle of the table. "Demetrie either gets me a book or gives me money."

"Well…what do you like?" Ron asked, intent on questioning her until he knew that he could definitely get her something that she would like.

"Um…"

"She likes dragons," Demetrie piped up, smiling as a new realisation dawned on him. "I never thought about that when I was buying you presents."

"Dragons?" Ron asked, his face breaking out into a grin that Aeryn wasn't really sure she liked. She opened her mouth to warn him that he better not do anything horrible, but he cut her off, obviously knowing what she was thinking.

"Don't worry. I was just thinking. My brother Charlie works with dragons. It should help me with buying a present."

"Really? Which brother?"

"Second eldest. Charlie. He lives in Romania."

"Why didn't you ever tell me that before?" she asked, poking him in the chest and smiling at him.

"You never asked," He replied, poking his tongue out and then stealing what was left of her bread roll to eat himself. Before he'd even got it close to his mouth however, Aeryn had pounced on him and stolen it back.

"Get your own bread roll," she teased, laughing at the pouting look on his face. "There are plenty to go around."

"I know, but your one looked the nicest."

"They're bread rolls," Aeryn laughed, rolling her eyes. "They look the same. Now, I don't have to be nice to you until the first of March, so get your own food." Ron was about to come back with something rude, but seeing Professor McGonagall walking towards them stopped him and he closed his mouth with a snap.

"Mr. Potter, I don't suppose you know where your Quidditch Team Captain is?" she asked, looking over at Harry from where she was standing behind Aeryn.

"Uh…sorry Professor, I have no idea," Harry replied, looking back at her.

"Oh, well if you see him, would you please inform him that there will be a Match next weekend. Miss. Bays could you please let your captain know too?" Aeryn nodded and watched McGonagall turn round at the last moment and call back, "and do say I apologise for the short notice."

**A/N – Sorry it was short…it was kind of a fill-in chapter…**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N – Had to make the Tonks and Remus thing sound a little less like book 7…Can't believe I put it in here too. Darn. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Sixteen**

Remus had promised that he would be in Tonks office as soon as lunch had ended, and everyone who had been involved in the fight at Hogsmeade had been excused from afternoon lessons to go and talk to him. McGonagall hadn't been too happy about the fact that her students would be missing lessons so close to their NEWTs, but didn't seem to have much say in the matter. Harry supposed that had it been anyone other than them that had been called out, she would have said 'no'. After all, she knew Hermione would know everything anyway and help them to catch up.

Draco hadn't been to happy about the fact that he would have to sit in a room with nine other people that he either hated or _really _didn't like, but Siobhan hadn't for a single second even considered not going.

"Why are we doing this?" Draco asked for the umpteenth time as they left the Great Hall. Siobhan sighed and looked round at him before realising that he couldn't see her anyway.

"Because if we can get out a picture of _my _parents, there's less chance they'll be able to come looking for that book-"

"And we can't give it to them because?"

"Because the spells in there are horrible," Siobhan replied, suddenly thinking back to the few times her Father had demonstrated some of them and shuddering at the memory. "And I wouldn't want _anyone _to undergo that kind of suffering. Gryffindor _or _Slytherin."

"That bad, eh?" Draco asked, frowning. He paused for a moment and then continued, "So, the spell that was used on me-"

"Draco," Siobhan warned, glaring at him. He ignored her.

"- is _that _one of the less horrible spells, or am I just considered not worth worrying about-"

"Draco, we've talked about this," Siobhan sighed, stopping and turning to face him. Feeling her stop walking, Draco stopped too and felt a sudden moment of panic when she slipped away so that his hand fell off her shoulder. He contemplated reaching out blindly for a moment to see if she was still there, but if she was, he would have looked like an idiot, so he kept still and waited for her to talk.

"I can't tell anyone that I have that book," she said, eventually. Draco looked towards her voice and was relieved to find that she was still standing in front of him and hadn't walked off and left him to find the Defence Classroom on his own. "If I _ever _get found with something like that, they won't _need _any other evidence to say that I'm a Death Eater. I doubt they'll even go as far as looking for a Dark Mark. Heck, I'll be in Azkaban before you can ever _say _Dark Mark-"

"You don't have to tell a Professor or an Auror," Draco interrupted. "I've had a while to think about this, and I know _exactly _who you can give it to."

"Who?" Siobhan asked, crossing her arms across her chest and looking at him sceptically.

"Granger-"

"Are you joking?"

"I don't joke," Draco replied, the most serious expression he could muster planted on his face.

"No," Siobhan stated firmly and then turned round to walk off.

"Just hear me out," Draco pleaded, making to grab her arm and missing by miles. The sudden movement threw him off balance and he would have crashed straight into the floor had Siobhan not had a sudden change of heart and turned round just in time to grab him.

"Go on then," she said, once she had got him back on his feet.

"Granger is the smartest student in this school. If _she _can't sort it out then no one can-"

"And what's to say she won't go and _tell _an Auror. What's to say she won't tell Potter and then _he'll_ go and tell an Auror?"

"She _owes _me," Draco replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "I saved her life during that final battle. I feel she owes me a secret-"

"But you forget. It's not you that needs to keep a secret. It's _my_ book; I need to keep it-"

"Look," Draco replied, sighing and running a hand through his hair. "I don't beg often – at all, really. But _please_. Just let her have a look at it. If she goes and tells someone then you have my permission to throw me off the Astronomy Tower, but I can almost guarantee that she will find out how to decipher that book." The room fell into silence and Draco braced himself for her to say no again, already trying to come up with another counter argument in his mind. He wasn't sure what else there was to say and hoped to Merlin that she would tell him that it would be alright to give Hermione the book.

"Suppose I _did _say yes," Siobhan replied, finally. Draco nodded and hoped he was looking in the right direction. "What if she _can't _figure it out? What if there's no way for her to read what's written in that book?" Draco shrugged and looked down at the floor.

"Then I'll stay blind for the rest of my life," he mumbled. Both of them were silent for a few seconds and Draco felt Siobhan's hand on his chin, bringing his head up so that she could kiss him. Draco didn't bother closing his eyes – there was no point, and the kiss didn't last that long anyway. It only took one look at Draco's eyes to give Siobhan her answer. His usually grey eyes that normally sparkled with life and told anyone that looked at him that he was ready for a fight, were completely black and had an odd looking grey mist swirling round in them that you could only see if you were up really close. Siobhan knew that Draco didn't know what his eyes looked like, and with that knowledge, she couldn't let him stay like that for the rest of his life if there was a way to reverse the spell.

"Alright," she replied, eventually, a hint of defeat in her voice.

"Really?" Draco asked, a smile slowly forming on his face. "You'll let Granger have a look at the book?"

"Yes," Siobhan nodded, trying not to laugh at the look of joy and happiness on his face. "But if she can't do anything then that's it." Draco nodded his head frantically and pulled Siobhan into a hug, smiling when he felt her arms wrap around his waist.

"Thank you." They stood like that for a few moments before Siobhan pulled back and slapped his arm.

"You've made us really late now," she moaned, grabbing his hand and dragging him off down the corridor. She paid little or no attention to the fact that every time they turned a corner, he almost fell over and landed flat on his face, and no matter how fast they ran, Siobhan knew everyone would already be there anyway. She was right. In fact, it looked like they had been there quite some time, though Siobhan wasn't sure _why _they had waited outside for them. They could have just gone in and the two of them could have arrived late. Siobhan saw Ron open his mouth to ask what had taken them so long, but Aeryn elbowed him in the chest to shut him up, knowing that whatever he said would be insensitive and not at all thought through.

"Lupin's already in there," Harry said, looking at his best friend who had doubled over in pain due to the force Aeryn had used when she elbowed him. Hermione had her hand over her mouth and looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh and Aeryn also looked like she was trying to hold back her laughter. Ginny didn't even bother trying.

"Ron, the day a _girl _can hurt you is the day I mark as when you started to get _old_," she teased, patting his head as she walked past to stand beside Harry – a move which made Hermione scowl. Harry seemed to notice as he moved away slightly and towards Hermione.

"Are you alright, Ron?" Aeryn asked, bending down beside him so that she could look at his face.

"I'm fine," he wheezed, pushing himself up straight and rubbing his chest. "You just completely knocked all the wind out of me is all." Then he turned to Ginny and finished with a, "I am _not _getting old."

"You are," Hermione joined in, standing on tiptoes so that she could look at his hair. "I think I see a few grey hairs-"

"I do _not _have grey hairs. Harry, mate, tell them I don't have grey hairs," Ron pleaded, reaching up and touching his hair as if that would tell him whether what Hermione and Ginny was saying was true.

"I don't know Ron," Harry replied, making it look as if he were studying Ron's hair. "You do look like you're going a little grey." Everyone laughed at the stricken look on Ron's face and Aeryn patted his shoulder reassuringly. He was stopped from answering by the door behind them opening to reveal the last Marauder, dressed in clothes that looked like he'd been through the full moon with them on and hadn't had a chance to change.

"What happened to your clothes?" Harry asked, curiously, looking down at them and then back up at Lupin's face.

"Nice," the werewolf said, crossing his arms. "I don't get a 'hello', I get questioned about my appearance. Wonderful." Harry smiled and knew that under normal circumstances, Remus would hug him straight away as a greeting, but with the other students there, the ex-professor obviously thought that was inappropriate behaviour. Instead, he held out his hand and Harry took it warmly, letting Remus move on to Hermione and then Ron.

"Come on in," he said, nodding at the others. "We only have until next lesson, and then Tonks will be kicking me out of the room."

"Where is she taking her class anyway?" Hermione asked, following Harry into the room and taking a seat at the front. Ron and Aeryn sat in the two seats behind them and Draco and Siobhan sat in the seats on their left. Everyone else took up the rows to their right.

"She's taking the lessons on the Grounds," Lupin replied, a pained expression crossing his face for a moment. "They're learning some new defence spells." Harry chuckled, knowing that the whole thing would probably turn out a disaster due to how clumsy Tonks was. Madame Pomfrey would most likely have her work cut out for her for the next couple of days. Harry decided not to worry Remus even more and didn't voice his thoughts, though he was sure he was thinking exactly the same thing anyway.

"Thank you all for coming, by the way," Remus said, closing the door to the classroom and walking to a cupboard beside the teacher's desk.

"It beats lessons," Harry replied, smirking and leaning back in his chair. Hermione slapped his arm and he feigned pain, rubbing it and shifting his chair away from her.

"Still," Remus continued, unaware of the exchange. "It was optional for you to come, so you didn't actually have to." Harry looked back round as Remus pulled out his wand and pointed it at the lock on the door of the cupboard, muttering something unintelligible under his breath.

"Now, strictly speaking," he started, pulling open the doors and pointing his wand at something on the top shelf. "I'm meant to have your parents permission to use one of these, but as three of you won't be able to get it, and you're all mostly eighteen and old enough to make your own decisions, I don't think that will be necessary." Harry sat up in his chair, wondering what Remus was talking about, and he even surprised himself when he asked – before Hermione – if it was a Pensieve.

"Yes it is," Remus replied, smiling at him and levitating the bowl onto the teachers desk before going back to the cupboard and pulling out a wooden box which – when put beside the Pensieve and opened – was revealed to be holding glass vials.

"Does anyone know how to do this?" Remus asked, taking one of the vials out of the box and holding it up in his hand before looking round at the class. He was surprised when Harry raised his hand and was even more surprised when Hermione didn't. Draco and Siobhan where the only other two people who had their hands up. Aeryn and Neville seemed to be at a loss as to what a Pensieve actually _was _and Remus didn't even think Luna was paying attention. Ginny was too busy glaring at Harry and Hermione. Ron knew what it was, but not how to use it and Kristina and Mazin didn't seem to have any idea how to use it either, but guessing from the rather uninterested looks on their faces, Remus guessed they'd seen one before.

"Well, Harry, would you like to show us what do?" Remus asked, holding the vial out to him. Harry looked at it uncertainly and then back up at Remus before pulling his wand out of his bag and climbing up from his seat. The bowl was already full of liquid, but was completely empty of memories and Harry wondered whether they used it only for occasions such as this one.

"It's not that complicated really," Remus said, handing Harry the empty vial and picking up a cork from the wooden box on the table beside him. "Once you're focused on the correct memory, it's easy to take it out." Harry brought his wand up to the side of his head and was about to perform the charm when a thought dawned on him, making him lower his wand again.

"We're not all going to watch these _now_, are we?" he asked, looking uncertainly over at Hermione, who understood immediately what he was saying and sunk down in her chair, her face turning red. Remus looked between the two of them and chuckled.

"Try and give me as close to when you saw Hogsmeade as you can," he said. "I'm not really in to all the _personal _details."

"So only you're watching it?"

"Yes." Harry nodded and lifted his wand back up to the side of his head, closing his eyes and trying to think back to just before Hogsmeade.

The sensation – no matter how many times you did it – was always a weird one. You had to get the first part of the memory exactly right so that you mind knew which one you wanted, but after that, magic completely took over. The thin wisp of smoke _was _the memory and the longer it was, the longer your memory lasted. It was hard to concentrate on both things – the memory and the charm – at once, as once you stared the memory going, it would race through your head in a blur, barely giving you time to glimpse at each part of it. The faster you pulled out the memory, the faster it would race by.

Harry cut it off when he saw the eleven of them emerging from the secret entrance under the Womping Willow and opened his eyes so that he could push the memory into the glass vial.

"Does everyone understand now?" Remus asked, looking round at everyone else in the room. They all nodded, but a few people still looked a bit uncertain.

"Thank you Harry," Remus said, taking the vial from him and magically labelling it before putting it back in the box and taking out another. Harry nodded and walked over to where Hermione was sitting, looking at him.

"Where did you start the memory?" she asked, so that she would know where to start hers.

"Just when you told me to look over at Hogsmeade," he replied after a moment of thought. Hermione nodded and watched as Siobhan guided Draco up to the front of the class.

"Does me not being able to see now effect the memory?" Draco asked, curiously as he pulled his wand out from his back pocket.

"It shouldn't do," Remus replied, although he didn't look too sure himself. "Though, as we don't know what the spell is, I can't be sure." Harry picked up on the uneasy exchange between the two Slytherin's at the mention of the unknown spell and he was sure that Hermione had seen it too.

It took Aeryn, Ron and Mazin a while to get the spell right and to get the whole memory in one piece, but everyone had finished giving their memories with five minutes to spare until the next lesson. Remus thanked them all again and they each bid him farewell before filing out the room. Harry looked round in time to see him levitating the Pensieve and the bowl into Tonks office and guessed he would be there for the rest of the day, which would mean that he could go and see him after dinner.

"Can I talk to you, Granger?" Draco's drawling voice asked as they stepped out the door.

"As if, Malfoy," Ron scoffed, leaving the room behind Hermione and then grabbing her arm to pull her away. Hermione was about to follow him, but Draco stopped them.

"No, wait," he pleaded. "It's important. You think I'd want to talk with you if it wasn't?"

"Well why can't you say it in front of us?" Harry asked, glaring at him and then Siobhan.

"The less people know, the better," Siobhan replied, shrugging.

"You can have my wand if it makes you feel any better," Draco added, pulling his wand from his back pocket and holding it out to them.

"I want hers too," Ron said, taking Draco's and pointing it at Siobhan, who grudgingly handed over hers. "I still don't want you trying anything funny."

"Don't worry, Weasel. We just want to talk to her." Ron let go of Hermione's arm and she followed Draco into the empty classroom opposite the Defence one.

"Can you place a silencing charm on that door?" Siobhan asked, nodding at it. Hermione looked at them both uncertainly before pulling out her wand and doing as they asked.

"What's so important?" she asked, looking from one Slytherin to the other. Siobhan reached into her bag and hesitated for a moment before pulling out a black book. Hermione looked at it, frowning.

"You have to swear not to tell anyone about this," Siobhan said, running her hand over the cover of the book and then looking up at Hermione. "Not even Potter."

"Um…okay…"

"Right." Siobhan dropped her bag on the chair beside her and then walked forward to stand in front of Hermione, looking down at the book one last time before handing it over. Hermione took it and then turned it round so that she could look at it. The whole thing was black, so she wasn't sure how the picture of the Dark Mark was visible on the front cover, but decided not to ask questions yet.

"This is my parents," Siobhan was explaining. "It's what they wanted at Hogsmeade. I'm not meant to be telling anyone about it, _but_ we think that the spell that's made Draco blind is in that book somewhere and we're hoping that there's a counter curse."

"What's this got to do with me?" Hermione asked, looking up at Draco and then Siobhan.

"Come on, Granger," Draco scoffed and Hermione imagined at if he could, he would roll his eyes. "You're the smartest student at this school. If anyone can find a counter curse to the spell stopping us reading it, then it's you-"

"Stop you reading it? So it's in code?"

"No," Siobhan corrected. "Only Death Eater's can read it. Anyone with a Dark Mark." Hermione nodded in understanding and flipped open the first page of the book, looking down at it curiously. They were right; she couldn't understand any of it.

"The second marker shows curses that my parents were working on," Siobhan said, showing her the black page markers that would appear at the side of the page when she put her hand there. She pulled up the second one and pointed at the page.

"We think that one of those has shut off my eyesight," Draco explained.

"So will you help us?" Siobhan asked, looking at Hermione and crossing her arms across her chest.

"Uh…I suppose I…could. I'll try, but I can't promise anything. I don't know how strong the spells are-"

"It's alright," Draco interrupted. "We're not expecting a brilliant result, but it's worth a try, isn't it?" Hermione nodded and closed the book before slipping it into her bag in between two other books so that no one would see it. With one last look at the two Slytherins, Hermione turned round, released the charms on the door and reached for the handle.

"Granger," Draco's voice called, softly. Hermione looked round at him. "Thank you." She smiled and nodded before pulling open the door, unsurprised when Ron and Harry almost fell flat on the floor at her feet. Crossing her arms across her chest, she fixed the two of them with a glare.

"Um…we were testing the wood," Harry said, knocking on the door. "Seeing how much of a beating it could take in case you needed some help…you know…"

"Silencing charms," Hermione interrupted. "You _don't _need to listen at the door. I was fine."

"We're just being concerned friends," Ron defended.

"I know, Ron. But you don't need to be. Now give Draco and Siobhan their wands back before we're late for our next lesson."

----

Hermione had refused to tell Harry and Ron what the three of them had talked about after their meeting with Remus and promised to hex the next person that asked her about it. Needless to say, the two of them shut up after that, knowing that she would carry through with the threat.

Harry knocked on the door of Tonks classroom after dinner, wondering how much persuading it would take to get Hermione to tell him what Draco and Siobhan had said to her.

There was a crash from the room in front of him and then Harry heard Tonks voice telling him to come in. He opened the door cautiously in case something exploded in his face, and was relieved to find that Tonks didn't have her wand pointing at anything, but was laying on the floor with a fallen chair next to her.

"Harry!" Tonks greeted, taking the hand he offered her. "Remus thought you'd come back to see him." Harry smiled and pulled her back to her feet, watching as she dusted off her robes. He loved having Tonks as a teacher, but sometimes her clumsiness scared him a little.

"Where _is _Remus?" Harry asked, looking towards Tonks office. "Still up in your office?"

"No," Tonks replied, picking up some of the papers she had dropped on the floor when she had fallen out of her chair and smiling gratefully at Harry when he bent down to give her a hand. "I think he wandered off to the kitchens to get some food for a late dinner."

"I take it he's been up there all day then?"

"Ever since you left," she confirmed, putting the muddled up papers back on her desk and turning to face Harry. "Why don't you go on up and I'll get him for you?" Harry thanked her and then watched her leave the room before making his way up to her office.

All the defence teachers had suited the office to their liking, and thus far, Harry thought Tonks was the best. He wasn't sure whether it was because Tonks was a metamorphagus and it just something she knew how to do, or whether it was a spell for everyone – but every time you took a step in the room, the floor changed colour of its own accord. The way it changed made it look like you had stepped in water, as the rippling effect moved out from your foot to cover the whole room. When you took quick steps, the floor would change a lot faster and at times it would look like a rainbow, rippling out to the very edges and corners of the room.

Harry smiled as he made his way over to the desk in the corner where the Pensieve sat, watching the colours change beneath his feet. He was so engrossed in watching, that he nearly walked straight into the table and knocked the Pensieve to the floor. He grabbed it at the last moment and felt his thumb slide into the liquid. Unable to stop himself, he was soon falling head first to the floor of Hogsmeade, where he landed with a crash. Cursing under his breath, he climbed to his feet and looked around. Siobhan and Draco were standing to his right, looking in through a shop window, though he wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying. Ron and Aeryn stood a few feet away, making their way towards Honeydukes. Harry considered following them before deciding against it. Instead, he turned to follow Draco and Siobhan to see if he could find out what the two of them had spoken to Hermione about.

"I could buy it," Draco said, smirking at Siobhan who glared back at him with a frown on her face.

"If you honestly think a new broom would help you outrun me, then you are seriously mistaken," she replied, rolling her eyes and dragging him away from the shop window where they had been looking at a new broomstick. Harry watched them go for a moment before looking round briefly at the broom. He could tell just by looking at it that it was faster than his was.

Not wanting to loose the two of them or miss the conversation, he hurried after them, sliding into the Three Broomsticks as the door began to swing closed.

"Mr. Malfoy," a voice greeted, sounding rather afraid. Harry looked the small man up and down, not recalling having seen him anywhere before. "What can I get for you?"

"Two butterbeers," Draco replied, giving the man a look over himself to make sure he wasn't up to anything. "And if you keep me waiting like your waitress did last time-"

"I won't, sir," the man hurriedly replied, running off towards the bar. Siobhan watched him go before turning back to Draco.

"Who was that?"

"How should I know?" Draco asked, his eyebrows knotting in confusion.

"He seemed a little scared, that's all-"

"Probably my father," Draco scoffed, relaxing back in his chair. "Everyone pretty much _knows _the git has taken over the Death Eaters. Being his son seems to be scaring people a little. It's a shame they don't know I'm not on speaking terms with him, isn't it?"

"For them anyway," Siobhan replied, rolling her eyes. "You seem to be enjoying their fear greatly."

"Oh, I am," Draco assured her. Harry frowned and looked around the bar. Draco and Siobhan weren't talking about anything interesting at all, and he couldn't be bothered to stand their listening to them talk about nothing. No one he knew was in the pub, so he left, feeling a moment of oddness when he found that he could just walk straight through walls and people.

Aeryn and Ron were leaving Honeydukes by this time, the latter holding a whole bag full of sweets. Harry jogged up to them, thinking it odd that they were only in black and white. In fact, the streets were now _all _in black and white completely.

"…Fred and George aren't here today," Ron said, looking up and down the street warily for the two Weasley twins. Harry smiled at his nervousness about seeing either of the twins and guessed that he probably didn't want a repeat of the last Hogsmeade visit.

"What would you like to do now?" Ron asked, pulling a sweet out of his bag and looking at it before popping it in his mouth. Aeryn looked round before grabbing Ron's hand and pulling him towards the small joke shop on the corner of the street. Ron smiled and followed willingly. Harry looked round too see if anyone else was near. He found Draco and Siobhan leaving the pub behind him and took one last look at his best friend before walking back over to the couple he had left earlier. The street had flooded with colour now, and Harry looked round at it oddly.

"The nerve of some people," Draco scoffed, pulling his cloak back over his shoulders after stepping out into the cold. "Calling me Lucius. I should go back in and hex him." Turning round to do just that, he was only stopped by Siobhan grabbing his arm and yanking him backwards.

"Don't be stupid," she replied, rolling her eyes. "You're not going to hex anyone. You won't be allowed to come to Hogsmeade again and then we'll be stuck in the castle." Draco pulled his arm away and glared at the pub.

"Fine, but if I ever get a chance to get him, I will." Siobhan opened her mouth to retort, but a scream stopped her and both students whirled round. Harry looked too and saw a group of people running into buildings. He knew it was the Death Eaters, but they hadn't shown themselves yet. Siobhan and Draco walked forward, pulling their wands from their robes and were almost hit with a curse sent from one of the alley's on the other side of the road. Draco yanked Siobhan into the doorway of the Three Broomsticks and then looked round the side to see what was happening. Seven Death Eaters, his father in the lead, were advancing down the street. From the other direction another seven were approaching, this time lead by Bellatrix. Draco cursed and gripped his wand, ready to hex them. Before he had a chance, however, something exploded in the middle of the road and grey smoke began to flow from it. Draco covered his mouth and nose with his cloak as it came towards him.

"Malfoy, get over here," a voice hissed. He looked round and round Ron standing in one of the alleys. Reluctantly doing as he was told, he pulled Siobhan into the alley with him and found seven other people already standing there. Harry stayed outside the alley, watching the Death Eaters to see if he could recognise any of the others. Of course, they had their masks on, so he would only see their faces if they decided to take them off. The grey smoke didn't seem to give them any reason to stop walking however and they closed in on the alley. Ron heard Draco tell everyone to run behind him and with one last look at Bellatrix, he followed the running group. With Ron and Draco in the lead, the nine of them soon came out in the main square, facing the fountain. Mazin and Kristina said something about getting the students back safely and then Harry heard Ron tell them the road was closed off before suggesting the passage through the Shrieking Shack.

Ron and Draco ducked as a spell sailed over their heads and then Draco blew up the fountain, sending the whole thing flying in the direction the spell had come from. This gave them a distraction and they bolted off. Harry was about to follow when he felt the memory fading around him, and suddenly, he was on the floor in Tonks office, staring up at Remus.

"Sorry," he apologised, quickly. "I nearly knocked it over and-"

"Don't worry," Remus replied, waving his hand and taking the seat behind the desk. He was still in the same clothes as he had been when Harry had seen him earlier in the day.

"What happened to your clothes?" Harry asked, climbing back to his feet and then taking the other chair in the room.

"I was out looking for a few Death Eaters before I came here and I didn't have time to change," he replied.

"So…you're alright then?"

"Fine," Remus replied, frowning. "Not that I don't appreciate you coming to see me, but I am rather busy-"

"I know," Harry interrupted, quickly. "But I wanted to check you were okay. You didn't look so good earlier. In fact, you _still _look rather pale. Is something wrong?" Remus rubbed his forehead before pulling his wand out of his pocket and pointing it at the door. Harry looked at it before turning back to Remus expectantly.

"Tonks is pregnant," he muttered, sinking lower in his chair.

"B-but that's great!" Harry replied, a smile forming on his face.

"Is it?" Remus asked. "I don't know anything about Werewolf genetics passing on through um…" Remus coughed uneasily before continuing, "But what if he or she is a…"

"I thought you could only be a werewolf if you were bitten by one."

"Well you can," Remus replied, sitting forward in his chair. "But werewolves don't usually get _married_, do they? Werewolves don't usually have _kids_."

"But you'll be a great father," Harry replied, staring intently at his friend. "Just because you're a _werewolf-_"

"But you haven't grown up in the Wizarding world, Harry. While you may be understanding of werewolves, mainly because you _know _one, other wizards and witches are not so accepting. What will people think when my child tells them that their father is a werewolf?"

"I think that they should get over themselves," Harry replied, scornfully. "Screw them all. Having a child would make you happy and you know it."

"You're a very optimistic person, Harry," Remus said, smiling slightly. Harry shrugged.

"Anyone would be lucky to have you as a dad," he replied. "And that's not just my opinion. It's fact." He added the last part when he saw Remus about to reply, and the werewolf closed his mouth, smiling.

"Thank you, Harry."

"Like I said. I'm only stating fact." The two of them sat in silence for a few moments and Remus took the opportunity to lift the silencing charm off the door. Harry eyes settled on the Pensieve.

"Remus, why are some of the things in the memory black and white?"

"Ah, I thought you might ask," Remus said, jumping at the opportunity to talk about anything other than Tonks and they baby. "See, I chose the person who had seen the most, which turned out to be Siobhan and just backed all the other memories on to it. If you add different peoples memories together…well…it's not easy. I didn't see the point of putting myself out and using colour. It would have been more trouble than it was worth." Harry nodded in understanding and then looked down at his watch.

"It's getting late and if I get caught out in the corridors this late I'll have detention for the next week no doubt." Remus smiled and stood up from his chair, walking round the table to hug Harry as he stood up.

"It was good to see you, Harry."

"You too." Harry pulled away and took one last look at the Pensieve before heading for the door. He turned at the last moment and said, "I really do mean it, Remus. You'd be a brilliant dad."

Tonks was sitting back at the desk by the time he got down there and Harry walked over as she nearly dropped something, grabbing it before it hit the floor.

"Thanks, Harry," Tonks said, taking the ink pot off him and putting it back on her desk. "How'd your talk with Remus go? He's been down a little lately." A pained look crossed her face that she failed to hide and Harry smiled sympathetically.

"Remus told me."

"Oh." Tonks hair turned pink as did her cheeks and she smiled sheepishly.

"Congratulations."

"Remus isn't too happy about it though, is he?" she asked, looking up at the office.

"Remus is _thrilled_," Harry replied. "Just worried. He'll come round in the end."

"I should probably go and talk to him about it," Tonks said, standing up from her chair and almost tripping over again.

"And I should _really _be getting back to my Common Room. See you, Tonks."

"Bye, Harry." Harry closed the classroom door in time to see Tonks knocking on her office door.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N – Sorry Mrs-T…HAPPY BIRTHDAY…for five days ago :P Not that you're actually there anyway until the 5****th****…but still…**

**On another note, I'll also be away until about the 4****th**** of August at camp. Now, this will have one of two results. The first is I will return and have about 3 chapters ready for you that I just have to type up and edit a bit. The OTHER is that the river beside us will have over-flowed, our campsite will have flooded and we won't live to tell the tale. But I'm sure that won't happen. Hopefully the next chapter will be up by not next Wednesday (coz I won't be here), but the Wednesday after that. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Seventeen**

After everything that had happened in the past week or so, Harry wondered why the Quidditch Match between Gryffindor and the Australians was still scheduled for later that day. He thought that with the current 'attack-everything-we-can' state the Death Eaters were in, flying up 200ft into the air on mostly unreliable brooms was a rather un-safe thing to do. McGonagall seemed to have had similar thoughts and had assured Harry that the pitch would be stationed with Aurors on high alert to make sure that nothing happened. This quelled Harry's fear a little, bit he was still wary and determined not to let his own guard down. After a quick look through _Quidditch Through the Ages _he had found that there was nothing in the rules about not being allowed to carry a wand on to the Pitch with you. Whether he would need to use it once he got up there was yet to be found out. He had made sure that Ron and Aeryn had taken similar precautions.

"Nothing is going to happen," Hermione assured him for the hundredth time that morning. "Do you really think that McGonagall would let the Match go on if she thought Death Eaters would come swarming in through the gates or hex your brooms?"

"I'm not all that worried about Death Eaters," Harry replied, catching sight of Blaise making his way to the pitch to sit in the Slytherin stands. "It's Slytherin's that are putting me on edge." Hermione followed his gaze and then pushed him further into the entrance of the Gryffindor changing rooms they were standing in front of.

"Don't be ridiculous," she scolded. "There are at least nine trained Aurors watching the match, the teachers and fourteen of the original members of the DA. The Slytherin's _will _not be able to curse anything." Harry looked round the corner to see if he could still see Blaise, satisfied when he realised that he had already left.

"Fine, but I'm still not letting my guard down."

"I don't expect you to," Hermione replied, giving him a quick kiss. "Just be a little less 'on edge' about the whole thing." Harry nodded, took one last look in Blaise's direction and then kissed Hermione.

"Don't forget to cheer."

"As if." Harry watched her go, and when he was sure she was out of sight, turned to go into the changing room where most of the team were already waiting.

Ron was still their Keeper, and had improved his performance in front of crowd greatly since they had been back. The usual chorus' of 'Weasley is our King' were no longer sung by Slytherin's unless they were in a terrible mood and Ron had unfortunately missed one shot at the goal. Gryffindors still sung the version in favour of him, and this helped boost his confidence even more.

Ginny and two fourth year students were the chasers for the team. The former took a look at Harry as he entered and then returned her gaze to the team Captain, who was pointing at one of the strategies on the board that the team had barely perfected at their last practice. The two fourth years were best friends, and one of them was Angelina Johnson's younger brother – that Harry never recalled her mentioning. The other one Harry had never seen before, but knew was a brilliant Chaser. He hadn't been related to anyone of the previous Gryffindor teams – unless someone with the last name Warrington was on the team before Harry arrived.

The two beaters, while not twins were two brothers in their sixth and seventh years. The Dunstan brothers had, had an older brother on one of the teams, though Harry wasn't sure which one. The older of the two – Marcus – was the Captain. Harry never remembered seeing him around school before this, or seeing him try out for any of the Quidditch practices, but it didn't really bother him. Had Fred and George not already stolen the title, he was sure that the two brothers would have been the best Beaters the Gryffindor Quidditch team had ever had.

Harry took the seat next to Ron at the back of the room, clapping his best friend on the shoulder in an attempt to get rid of the nervous look on his face. Ron smiled uneasily without looking away from the strategy in front of them, glad that he wasn't involved in it. He didn't understand it at all.

"Don't be nervous, mate," Harry whispered when their captains back was turned. "You'll do great, you always do." Ron nodded and a little colour came back to his face at the support. He mumbled a quiet 'Thanks' and picked up his broom as the rest of the team walked off to the changing rooms. Harry picked up his own broom, his mind suddenly going back to the broom he'd seen in Hogsmeade and wondering how much it cost. He didn't really want a new broom, but one look at Ron's told him that he was seriously in need of one. The whole thing looked like it would snap in half if you so much as poked it.

Harry slipped into one of the cubicles, wishing there was a spell that made getting the Quidditch robes on easier and less time consuming.

Most of the team was ready by the time he got back out and he grabbed his broom again from where he had left it resting on the side of the changing cubicle. Ron appeared beside him, still fastening the protective pads on his arms. Harry made sure that he had his wand tucked securely into the waistband of his trousers – the Quidditch robes had no pockets – before following everyone else towards the entrance of the pitch. The Australian team were already there when they arrived and Harry saw Ron searching for Aeryn. She mouthed them both a 'good luck' and a little colour seemed to return to his face.

The two teams shot out together, each doing a lap around the pitch before flying towards the middle to take their starting positions. Marcus flew forward to shake Siobhan's hand and then the two of them went back to their respective teams, waiting for Madame Hooch to release the four balls from the trunk on the floor.

The snitch was released first, and Harry barely caught a glimpse of it before it had fluttered off towards the stands. The two Bludgers were released next and a few of the players had to pull back a little when one of them came far too close for comfort. Then the Quaffle was thrown into the air and the match started, both Keepers racing for their goals to stop any members of the opposing team from scoring. Ron got to his posts in time to catch a shot thrown by David and it was then that Harry realised Luna was commentating this match too. The thought made him laugh and he looked towards the Teacher's box, where McGonagall already seemed to be regretting her decision.

"Oh look, Ron caught the ball again. Well done, Ronald!" Harry looked round and saw that Ron's face had turned a bright shade of red, but hadn't stopped his good performance at all. Focusing his attention back on the game, Harry searched for the snitch, not having seen it since it was released a few minutes ago. Siobhan was hovering at the other end of the pitch, doing the same thing, while stealing glances down at the Slytherin stands every so often. Harry looked too and saw Draco Malfoy sitting on his own at the front, hoping that the cheers from everyone and Luna's commentary would let him know what was going on. Harry wondered why he hadn't just stayed at the Castle, but then supposed it would have been awfully quiet and terribly boring.

"Gryffindor have scored," Luna's voice announced. "At least I think they scored. I mean, when the sun is out like this, Hippigluffs usually come around and play tricks with people's eyes, so I can't really be sure…"

Ron chuckled and watched the red leather ball passing between Chasers and coming back towards him from the other end of the Pitch. David threw it towards the middle hoop and Ron short forward reaching his hand out to catch it –

And then yanked his broom backwards when a Bludger came flying at him. The Quaffle went straight through the hoop and the Australian's cheered. Ron looked round and found Aeryn sitting on her broom a few feet away, swinging her bat in her hand with a smug look on her face. He sent a disbelieving look and replied with the most innocent look she could muster before turning her broom round and flying off to help her team mates.

"Mental," Ron muttered, swivelling his own broom round to go back and defend the hoops from the Chasers that were making their way up the pitch. He could see Harry circling the pitch and their two Beaters both hitting one of the Bludgers together, sending it shooting towards the Australian chaser with the Quaffle. He dropped it in his haste to get out the way of the oncoming ball and Ginny caught it, taking it back in the direction it had come.

The two teams were fairly evenly matched, and by 30 minutes into the game, the Australians were only up by two goals, making the score 110 – 90. Ron was cursing himself for letting in goals by this point and was sure the Slytherins would break out into a chorus of 'Weasley Is Our King' at which point he decided he would jump off his broom and fall 200ft to his death.

Harry didn't seem to be having too much luck looking for the Snitch, and Siobhan only seemed to be half concentrating on the game as most of her attention was focused on Draco. Ron supposed that if someone so much as gave him a dirty look, she'd be on them in a heart beat and there would be a nasty mess at the bottom of the Astronomy Tower to explain next morning. Aeryn on the other hand seemed to be taking any opportunity she could to hit the Bludger as close as she could to Ron without actually hitting him.

The Gryffindor Beaters were up the other end of the field, hitting the Bludger back and forth between them and following one of the Australian chasers around. Ron was sure they were waiting until he was passed the Quaffle so that they could knock him clean off his broom.

The Keeper of the other team seemed to be having trouble keeping up with the volley of shots Gryffindor kept sending in his direction and it was only a matter of time before one of them actually went through the hoop and didn't hit his hand to rebound back into the waiting arms of Gryffindor Chasers.

Another 30 minutes passed and Aeryn had successfully stopped Ron saving a whole load of goals with well aimed Bludger shots at his head that had caused him to pull back and given the Chasers a chance to score. Ron had given up trying to keep the score at this point and was sure Luna wasn't even commentating the _Match _anymore, because all he could hear was a comment every now and then about Hippigluffs or what a _wonderful _Keeper he was – which, he had to admit, boosted his confidence a whole lot.

Ron was just about to save a goal – the first one in ten minutes (Aeryn was over the other side of the Pitch) – when he saw a Golden glint out of the corner of his eye that made him stop. Ignoring the cheer of the Australians as the Quaffle went in; Ron looked round frantically for Harry. He growled in annoyance when he saw that his best friend was flying along beside Siobhan. If he shouted out, she'd hear too. He looked round at the Snitch again briefly, then back at Harry.

"Harry! Snitch!" His friend's head whipped round at the same time as Siobhan's and the two of them gave each other a brief glance and then turned their brooms round and shot towards the Gryffindor goal posts. Ron – momentarily distracted – completely missed the shot sent at the middle hoop and it took him a few seconds to catch up with what was going on again. He managed to save a goal as the two Seekers shot past him at high speed.

"Bloody hell, Potter," Siobhan smirked, looking round at him. "Fast broom."

"Only the best," Harry replied, smirking too. "Old as it may be."

"Old, eh? No match for a new broom them."

"Oh, that's what _you _think." Harry smiled and leaned forward on his broom, propelling himself forward at the ball. Siobhan looked shock for a moment that his broom could out-fly hers, but then she was beside him again, reaching her hand out for the Snitch. He shoved it out of the way and leaned closer to the handle of his broom to get closer to the golden ball. He heard Siobhan growl in annoyance behind him and he smiled, leaning forward so that he chest was almost flat on the broom. He reached out for the ball to end the game, but it changed direction, flying upwards. Harry cursed as he passed the spot where it had changed course and flew upwards, spinning his broom in mid air so that he was directly behind the Snitch again. Siobhan hadn't managed to turn as fast as he had and it was a few seconds before she was behind him again, following the Snitch into the clouds.

They fought over position in front of the Snitch for a few moments, before Harry finally took his chance and forced his broom forward to wrap his hand around the Snitch. He heard Siobhan curse behind him and then braced himself on the broom as an unusually strong gust of wind threatened to throw him off. Siobhan pulled her broom to a stop and few feet ahead of him and then turned back round to face him, frowning at the struggling ball in his hand. He smiled and was about to turn round to go back to the Pitch when he spotted a black shape behind Siobhan. Squinting at it soon caught her attention and she turned round to look. As it came closer, it suddenly dawned on Harry what it was and drew in a sharp breath of surprise before shouting out for Siobhan to fly away. She looked round at him, then back at the shape and did as she was told, flying past him at the same time as he managed to turn his broom round.

"What is it?" she asked, when he had caught up, shouting over the rushing wind to make herself heard.

"Dementor," he replied, looking behind them to see where it was and feeling more colour drain from his face when he saw another join the previous one. Urging his broom to go faster, he spared a fleeting thought to why and how Dementors had gotten into the school and wondered if they were still being controlled by the Death Eaters. His fear of them had eased up a little, but it didn't mean he wanted to be in presence of one while at least 600ft up in the air on a broom that was controlled by _him_.

As soon as they broke of the clouds, Harry looked behind them and saw the two black shapes lingering for a moment before they disappeared.

"Harry!" He looked round as Siobhan called him and barely missed ploughing straight into one their chasers. This sent him off a bit and he nearly fell off of his broom. When he had managed to straighten himself again, he looked up to the clouds one last time before holding the Snitch up to show that he had caught it. There was a collective cheer from the Gryffindor stands that seemed to die down a lot sooner than normal and then Madame Hooch blew the whistle, stopped the game. Harry and Siobhan touched down on the pitch together and gave each other a quick glance before Harry was being hugged and congratulated by his team mates. It was only when Hermione came down to the Pitch that they all found out that the Match had been a draw. 340 points to each team.

"Merlin, were we doing that bad?" Harry asked, smiling and looked at Ron. He turned red.

"W-well Aeryn hit the Bludger at me every time I went to save a goal. I-I couldn't really save any of them-"

"You didn't miss that many," Hermione assured him, patting his shoulder. "Their Keeper is very good." Ron let out a sigh of relief and then said goodbye to them before running off to congratulate Aeryn.

"What are you looking at?" Hermione asked, turning round to talk to Harry and finding him looking at the sky.

"What?" he asked, still not turning to face her.

"Harry." She slapped his arm and he turned round, a somewhat dazed looked on his face. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing," he replied, looking round at the team, who were making their way to the changing rooms. "I'll meet you back in Gryffindor Common Room."

----

Siobhan had told Draco what had happened as soon as she got back from the changing rooms and he couldn't make much more sense out of than she could. The only conclusion the two could come to where that the Death Eaters still had control over a few Dementors – which couldn't be a good thing.

"They can't have taken many of them though," Siobhan was saying. "The Ministry would have noticed."

"Maybe they _have _noticed," Draco replied, shrugging. "They wouldn't want everyone to know. They'll be keeping it quiet."

"I suppose, but-" Siobhan stopped when the door in front of them opened and Blaise breezed out, slamming Draco into the wall and holding him there with an arm across his throat and his wand pressed into his stomach. Draco tried to shove him off, but soon gave up. Siobhan had stopped trying to help him when two of the Slytherin's had come up behind her and pressed wands to her back.

"You alright, Bat-Boy(1)?"Blaise sneered.

"Bat-Boy?" Draco asked, smirking. "You can't come up with a more insulting name than that?" Though Draco couldn't see it, Blaise's face flushed bright red as the name he had thought was so good didn't actually insult Draco.

"I bet it took you hours to come up with that, didn't it?" he asked, chuckling. Blaise slammed the back of his head back into the wall to shut him up.

"_I_ bet your dad was happy to see you, wasn't he?" Blaise hissed. "A wonderful family reunion that must have been-"

"Oh don't pretend you haven't spoken to him since Hogsmeade. We saw you sneak out of the head-count-"

"_You _saw me, did you?"

"_Siobhan _saw you. Either way, we know you left that Hall, and you're not denying having contact with them, so where else would you have gone?" Blaise's hold on his throat tightened.

"It doesn't matter what I've been doing. With or without _my _help, they're going to kill you-"

"Is that so? I suppose they've let you in on this 'Master Plan' then, have they?" Draco mocked, continuing when the question was met with silence. "Of course, _I _wouldn't have let you in on it. You're too dense to absorb what they're trying to tell you. Probably goes in one ear and out the other. Not as if there's a brain to stop it-"

"You're blind and being held up against the wall by your throat. I don't think it's the right time to be smart-mouthing me, do you?"

"Any time is the right time to be smart-mouthing _you_, Blaise. You haven't got the guts to do anything about it."

"I don't have to do anything about it. I can tell my father and you-"

"Tell your father?" Draco asked, mockingly. "You run to _Daddy_ every time something goes wrong for you, do you?" He put on a false voice that sounded like Blaise's. "Daddy. I'm fat and ugly and no one likes me. Kill them, Daddy! Kill them." Blaise whacked Draco round the head with the hand that was holding his wand to shut him up.

"Don't think you're going to get off lightly just because your father is a Death Eater," Blaise hissed. "He doesn't love you any more than I do-"

"Love me?" Draco asked, smirking. "I didn't know you felt that way about me Blaise."

"One more word and I'll hurt-"

"Hurt me? Jeez, Blaise, you really are lost on this whole insult thing…"

"I wasn't going to say you," Blaise interrupted. "I was going to say I'll hurt _her_."

"I am _not _some incapable bimbo that doesn't know how to protect herself, you know," Siobhan interrupted, shrugging Crabbe and Goyle's hands off her shoulders. "You come at me with a wand and you'll get what's coming to you." Draco smiled.

"I wouldn't underestimate her if I were you – which fortunately, I'm not. You'll be on the receiving end of a nasty hex." Blaise went to retort, but voices carrying down the corridor stopped him and he looked round in that direction before gruffly letting Draco go.

"Don't think is over, Malfoy." With that said, he walked off, Crabbe and Goyle trailing behind.

"You alright?" Siobhan asked, as he rubbed his neck.

"Fine," Draco replied, dropping his hand to his side and then smiling. "Bat-Boy, eh?" Siobhan laughed.

"He was _very _upset that it didn't insult you like he'd hoped it would. You should have seen the look on his face. It was priceless."

"I bet it was," Draco chuckled. The laughter was short lived when he heard who was coming round the corner.

"What are you up to, Malfoy?" Ron's voice asked, a hint of accusation in it.

"What would make you think I was up to something, Weasley? Always assume the worst, don't you?" Ron snapped his mouth shut and glared at him. There were a few moments of silence before Harry spoke.

"We were looking for you two anyway-"

"Really?" Draco asked. "Us? And _why _would you be doing that?"

"Ron wanted to talk to Siobhan," Harry replied, rolling his eyes as his best friend blushed. "Aeryn's been lecturing him on how she should 'respect Slytherin's' and she told him that you and her used to be best friends and have recently called a truce."

"And?" Siobhan asked, looking at Ron.

"He wants to know if you approve of his idea of a birthday present for Aeryn."

----

**(1) I was watching this program on Bats (Just please don't ask) at the same time as trying to think of a name that Blaise could call Draco that he could pass of as not being insulting, and what do you know? Really, if you think it's terrible, don't worry, I do too.  
For those still confused. There's that saying 'Blind as a bat' (tho I'm sure I read somewhere that bats aren't actually blind) and that's where I got it from. See? **


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N – Okay, everything to do with this just turned into a MAJOR disaster, but as I'm sure you'd like an explanation, I'll give you one. **

**Okay, so I went on Holiday for two weeks with my family and I managed to finish this chapter barely an hour before we left (at 7 in the morning – yeah, I was up that early for you all) but then screwed up and wouldn't let me upload it. **

**After that, I managed to get chapters 19 and 20 typed up on my laptop, which I'd taken with me. I thought I was doing really well and one morning, I got my key out to start chapter 21…and it had snapped in half. Yeah. So I lost EVERYTHING. The only thing I managed to save was the Plan for the story. I've almost finished re-writing the last two chapters and I managed to get this off and attachment I sent to Mrs-T, so here you go:**

**Oh! And if anyone needs a story, read Spencers! It's only got a chapter so far, but it's cool! (-points- look advertising for your story)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Eighteen**

Hermione had managed to keep her conversation with Draco and Siobhan a secret for a whole week and Harry and Ron were getting more annoyed with her by the moment. They'd come close to seeing books that she obviously didn't want them to see and they'd finally come to the conclusion that she was either hiding something that they'd given her or researching something. Or both. Harry swore he'd find out what she was doing if it killed him – which it probably would, knowing the spells Hermione knew.

Harry and Ron had found Hermione in the library on the Marauders Map and were on their way to find her. They hoped they could sneak up on her and that both of them would be able to get a look at what she was doing .The fact that the encounter would take place in the Library worked to their advantage too as Hermione wouldn't _dare _cast a spell in there. Aeryn was back in the Common Room talking to Demetrie about her Birthday and as they left, Ron had caught sight of her rolling her eyes for the umpteenth time. He had been meaning to ask McGonagall about her present, but she hadn't been at the school for a while.

When she came up behind them at the moment he was thinking about it, Ron couldn't decide whether he was more thankful that he could finally ask her about it, or more annoyed that she had come along at such an inconvenient time. He chanced a look over at Harry, who shrugged.

"We'll talk to her and then ambush Hermione," he said, quietly enough so that McGonagall wouldn't hear them. It was only when they stopped and turned round that they realised she wasn't alone. By then, it was too late to turn back and claim they hadn't turned round on purpose.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley," McGonagall greeted, coming to a stop in front of the two of them. "I suppose you're on your way to the library to see Miss. Granger. Perhaps even to finish that Transfiguration Essay I set you?" The two boys looked sideways at each other.

"Of course, Professor."

"Good. Now, I want you two to meet our new Potions Professor-"

"What happened to the old one?" Ron asked, curiously.

"He had some personal issues to attend to," McGonagall replied, in a tone that suggested she didn't want to talk about it any more than that. "I've been away for the last few days looking for a replacement, when it dawned on me that the Potions Master from Amahan Academy came over with the students. Boys, this is Professor Mihailović[1" The two boys nodded at him and then looked him over. Thankfully, he didn't remind either of them of Snape. His brown hair and eyes made him look completely different and even if he _did _have black hair, the mug that he was holding in his hand would have been completely out of place with Snape, seeing as it was covered in flowers.

"Nice to meet you, boys," Mihailović greeting, smiling and taking a sip from his cup. Harry and Ron looked at each other and then back in time to see the new Professor hold his hand out to them. Harry took it warily, taken by surprise at the force Mihailović used when he shook it. Ron shook his hand next and seemed to be quite as surprised as Harry.

"You boys are in your 7th Year?" he asked, a smile still plastered on his face.

"Yes, sir," Harry replied.

"You have a lesson tomorrow morning?"

"Yes."

"Do you like tea?" Ron and Harry both looked round at each other and then at McGonagall, hoping for some help. She looked as lost and confused as they felt. After a quick look at the Professor, they soon decide he was very serious with the question, as the smile had dropped from his face, and Ron thought it might be a good idea to answer.

"Uh…yes-"

"Wonderful," Mihailović cried, the smile forming on his face again as he grabbed Ron's arm. "Why don't you come and have a cup with Minerva and myself? We were just discussing the best way for me to carry on with your previous lessons. A student input may come in useful." Ron looked at McGonagall, lost, and she sent him an apologetic look, hurriedly following them as Mihailović began dragging him towards the dungeons.

"Uh…right…I-I'll see you later, Harry!" Ron called as he was pulled away. Harry jokingly saluted and then waited until his friend was out of sight before shaking his head and making off in the direction they had been walking in previously. He was sure he heard the new Professor ask if Ron would like to see his collection of cups and could almost see the horrified look on Ron's face. The red-haired Weasley was probably one of the worst people to ask for input in Potions lessons. He didn't even pay attention.

Harry wondered how much more difficult trying to find out what Hermione was up to would be without Ron there to help him. Thankfully, he didn't run into anyone else on the way, and hoped his good luck would help him _in _the Library. He reached his destination in under two minutes and it didn't look like many people were in the Library. A few first year students were sitting at the table to his left, all looking rather uninterested in the book they were reading. Madame Prince was sitting behind her desk, looking through a book of her own and glancing up every few seconds to make sure the students were acting appropriately for a Library. Harry spotted Hermione in a corner right at the back, the table she was sitting at littered with books. There were also a few sitting on the seat beside her and one or two that she'd obviously decided would do for some reading material perched on top of her bag.

Harry jumped behind one of the book shelves just in time to avoid behind spotted as she looked up, thinking that maybe this would be a little harder than he originally thought. After looking round to make sure he wasn't in sight of Madame Prince, Harry pulled a book out of the shelf so that he could see Hermione. After two or three minutes of watching her, he found out that she looked up shortly after turning a page, surveyed the room and then want back to reading. Harry guessed the he had about a minute to get to the next bookshelf and the second Hermione looked back down at her book, Harry came out from behind his hiding place and walked as fast as he could to the bookshelf across the room without making it look like he was running. As soon as he was there, he pulled out another book to time his way to the next hiding spot.

By the time he ran out of book shelves to hide behind, he could see the books on the table in detail. There were quite a few that looked like they were from the Restricted Section and this only piqued Harry's curiosity even more. The piece of parchment on the table beside her was empty save for what looked like a title and a few notes – which Harry supposed were book titles. He could be wrong though and it only added to his ever growing curiosity. He spared a brief thought to how much easier this would have been with Ron there to help him before looking round the bookshelf. Hermione was scribbling something down on her page of notes and Harry hoped that she'd be too engrossed in doing that to notice him sneaking up to her. If she did see him, he could just act casual and walk up to her as if he was coming to see her. She was too close to be able to hide anything without him noticing.

Slipping out from behind the bookshelf, Harry walked as quietly as he could towards his girlfriend, who was still writing. He got half way to the desk before she paused and he stopped dead and bit his tongue, hoping that she wouldn't look up. She reached across the table for the black book, lifted her head –

And stopped. Grabbing the book that had been on the table under the black one, she flicked through until she found what she was looking for. Harry breathed a quiet sigh of relief and then took the last few steps towards the desk. Hermione heard him and her head jerked up, a guilty look on her face.

"What's all this?" he asked, looking at the books and then back up at her. Hermione bit her lip and looked down at the table. Harry didn't know what she didn't want him to see, but was sure she would try to hide it sooner or later, at which time, he would be ready.

"Homework," Hermione replied, feebly, sinking down in her chair and looking anywhere but at his face.

"For what lesson?" Harry questioned.

"Ancient Runes…" her tone made her sound like she was offering a suggestion rather than giving him an answer and she knew he had picked up on it. If it was possible, she looked even guiltier now than she had when he'd first found her.

"You know what?" he started, taking the seat in front of her and watching as she eyed one of the books again. He followed her gaze and decided she was looking at one of the books closest to her. "I think you're lying to me-"

"I-I'm not," Hermione insisted, sinking down further in her chair. She chanced a look at his face, but the stern, serious look on it made her look away again and her gaze returned to whatever book it was she didn't want him to see.

"You remember when I said I knew what you were thinking? That you were easy to read?" he asked, knowing she knew what he was talking about without her having to give him confirmation. "This is one of those times."

"Harry-"

"What don't you want me to see?" Hermione's eyes flickered involuntarily back to the table and Harry finally settled on the black book by her right hand. He looked back up at her and sat waiting or a reply that he knew wouldn't come.

"Please don't lie to me," he said, leaning on the table and catching sight of her placing her right hand on the book out of the corner of his eye. "I know you're hiding something and I think it's something to do with Siobhan and…Malfoy." Hermione looked back up at him and opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it again, seemingly thinking better of it. They sat in silence for a moment, Harry wanting Hermione to admit to lying and Hermione wanting Harry to drop the whole thing.

"How about this," Harry started, leaning forward in his chair and resting his head on his heads. "If I pick up what you're trying to hide, you get to tell me _all _about it-"

"Harry-"

"No, Hermione. I don't want you keeping secrets from me. Now what's that black book you have your hand on?" Hermione looked down at it and then back at the smug look on his face. Harry reached out to pick it up, but Hermione wrapped her hand around it and pulled it towards her, muttering something about 'Homework'.

"Nothing here is Homework, Hermione; we both know it so stop lying and give it." Hermione looked down at the book uneasily and sighed in defeat, knowing that she wasn't going to get out of this one. He'd caught her. She slammed the book onto his outstretched palm, holding it tight for a moment before finally releasing her grip and letting him have it. Harry looked down at it and turned it over in her hand a few times before the light caught a shape on the front cover that made him turn it back. His eyes flickered up to look at Hermione, who still looking like a 6 year old child caught stealing from the sweet jar.

"Is this what Siobhan and Malfoy gave you last week?" he asked, watching Hermione slowly nod her head. He looked back down at the book and traced the shape of the Dark Mark before opening the first page.

"What does it say?" he questioned, frowning at the scribbles on the page.

"I don't know," Hermione replied, shrugging. "That's what I'm trying to find out. There's a spell on it that only lets Death Eaters read it, and they want me to break it." Harry looked at the books scattered across the table, picking up one at random.

"Have you got anywhere?" he asked, then before she'd had a chance to answer the first question, "Is this from the Restricted Section?"

"I haven't really got that much. Just notes on a few spells that could break it. Even then I don't think it's going to work," Hermione answered, leaning back in her chair with a sigh. "And yes, it's from the Restricted Section."

"How did you get in there?"

"McGonagall gave us those passes which we were meant to use to find out about your wandless magic, which I thought I could do while I was here. The books about that are on top of my bag…" Harry nodded, having completely forgotten all about that and put the book back down on the table, keeping the Death Eater one in his hand.

"Is this dangerous?" he asked, looking up at her suddenly, a look of worry and concern on his face.

"I don't know-"

"What do you mean you don't know?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "Didn't Siobhan and Malfoy tell you?"

"I'm sure they would have," Hermione hurriedly replied. "I mean, they wouldn't have given it to me if they thought it would hurt me-"

"They're Slytherins," Harry stated, bluntly. "And you're Muggle-born. They don't need any more incentive to hurt you than that."

"I know, but Draco's blind," she argued, desperate to make him understand why she was doing this and near scowling when he winced at the use of Malfoy's first name. "They asked me to break the spell and I don't believe they would deliberately give it to me if it hurt me-"

"How do you know that?"

"Are you implying that I don't know how to look after myself?" Hermione asked, glaring at him and then leaning across the table to snatch the book out of his hand. "I am perfectly capable of checking for spells on that book, and the only one I can find is one stopping me from reading it. Now if you're not here to help me or offer any useful suggestions, leave." With her last word said, Hermione slammed the book on the table, winced at the loud noise it made and then went back to writing. Harry watched her for a few moments, trying to decide whether it would be better to leave or to apologise. He finally settled on the latter.

"Alright, you can look after yourself," he admitted. "And I know you don't need me to do it, but like you've told me before, I have a 'saving-people thing' and I can't help it. And if you want me to help, then I will." Hermione looked up at him.

"Thank you." Harry shrugged and picked up one of the books from on top of her bag, flicking through it and coughing as doing that made dust blow out into his face. Wiping his face with his sleeve to get most of the dust off, Harry put the book down on the table and carefully flicked to the contents at the beginning, running his finger down the titles of chapters. None of them made much sense to him, but he opened the book on one random page and scanned his eyes over it before deciding it had nothing to do with his situation. He flicked forward a couple of pages to the next chapter, read a little and then flicked forward again, wondering why Authors couldn't just make books like this easy to read. Surely words that took up half a line were pointless, useless and just there to confuse everyone? Harry stopped flicking the pages as something caught his eye and flipped a few pages back to see what he'd just missed. Sitting up straight in his chair, he began to read, glancing up at Hermione a few times to find her not paying any attention to him what-so-ever.

"Hermione…" he started, looking up at her on reaching the end of the page.

"Hmmm?" she replied, looking up at him after finishing the sentence she was writing down. Harry was still looking at the book, but seemed to be paying more attention to what she was saying anyway.

"Hermione, do you believe in soul-mates?" he asked, curiously, closing the book but keeping his fingers in between the pages so he knew where he'd been. Hermione looked down at the book he was reading and then back up at his face, wondering what on Earth he was talking about.

"Why?"

"You shouldn't answer a question with a question," Harry replied, raising an eyebrow, obviously wanting a proper answer.

"Well, I don't…know," Hermione answered, shrugging her shoulders and leaning back in her chair, still looking down at the book on the table in front of him. "I mean…when I was little then maybe. I suppose there's something behind it-"

"Wizards and Witches believe in them," Harry stated, bluntly.

"Are you actually going somewhere with this?" Hermione asked.

"Yes." Harry opened the book again and pushed it in her direction. She sent him a curious look and then looked down at the page. Harry watched her eyes can over the writing, he face going from a look of confusion to a look of shock and surprise. He was sure she must have read it at least four times before she looked up and met his gaze.

"Protective magic?" she asked, incredulously, looking back down at the book. "You don't really think-"

"What other explanation could there be?"

"But it's so…"Hermione trailed off, seemingly trying to think of the right way to word her thoughts. "Unrealistic."

"Everything in the passage in that book applies to this situation," he argued, pulling the book back towards him and looking down at the page. He held a hand up so he could count things off his fingers. "We're close; we're dating; both times I used wandless magic I was protecting or defending _you_; I love you; we've risked our lives for each other-"

"What did you just say?" Hermione questioned, her eyes wide and staring at him.

"Uh…we've risked our liv-"

"No. Before that." Harry thought about it for a moment, trying to remember what it was he'd just said and looked down at the book to help himself. When he looked back up, a blush had covered his cheeks and Hermione was still staring at him, shocked.

"I was protecting you?" he muttered, weakly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"You said you loved me," Hermione stated, bluntly. Harry's mouth opened and closed soundlessly and he had to avert his gaze and look down at the ground beside Hermione's bag.

Shrugging his shoulders and sinking down in his chair he replied with an almost inaudible, "Uh…yeah." Hermione looked at him for a moment and then quickly round at where Madame Prince was sitting. Without a word, she stood up, grabbed his hand and dragged him behind one of the bookcases.

"Wha-" Before he'd had a chance to say anything, her lips were on his. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer, while she wrapped hers around his neck. Kissing Hermione in the library was one of the last he things he ever thought she'd let him do.

"What was that in aid of?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrow as she pulled away.

"I don't know," Hermione replied, blushingly. "I just…well…Ginny and Cho…and I'm not that special." Harry spun them round so that he was practically pinning her to the bookcase and rested a hand on the shelves either side of her head.

"Don't _ever _say you're not special. You've been my best friend for nearly seven years and my girlfriend for nearly two months. You're the most special person in my life now and forever." Hermione smiled slightly and then stood on tip-toes to kiss him again.

Pulling back just enough so that she could talk, Hermione whispered, "I love you too."

"No one's ever told me that before," Harry replied, his lips brushing against hers as he spoke. Hermione's eyes snapped open and she looked at him.

"Are you serious?" she asked, stunned.

"Well who would you suggest?" he countered, smirking. "The _Dursleys _are hardly going to say it to _me_."

"Well…" Hermione trailed off, still looking completely amazed at this piece of information. "I just…I grew up hearing it from my parents-"

"So why were you so surprised when I said it?"

"Well…hearing from you…from my boyfriend is a lot different than hearing it from my parents," Hermione replied, blushing again. "It just means a lot to me, that's all." Harry smiled and kissed her again.

"Mmm…I much prefer this to studying-"

"Oh my god," Hermione pushed him away and began to walk back to the table. "I can't believe you distracted me! I'm _supposed _to be trying to help Draco!" Harry sent her a disbelieving look and opened his mouth before closing it, at a loss for words. He wished he'd kept his mouth shut.

"Girls…" he muttered, deciding it was probably best to follow her before she came looking for him.

----

By the time Madame Prince had closed the Library that night, Hermione had pretty much resigned herself to the fact that they weren't going to be able to break the spells on the book and felt horrible with herself for not being able to do something. They'd been through almost every book they could find, and Harry had convinced her – eventually – that there wouldn't be anything in any of the other books if there weren't in the ones they'd already read through.

Hermione didn't feel much better even after a good nights sleep and had been dreading the confrontation with the two Slytherin's after Defence Against the Dark Arts. When it finally came around, she begged Harry to let her have one more day to look in the library. He said no.

"Oi! Malfoy, can we have a word?" Harry asked, coming up behind the Slytherin, near dragging Hermione.

"What do you want to talk to him for?" Ron asked, scowling at them. "Come on-"

"No, Ron," Harry interrupted. "It's important." Looking round, he opened a door to an empty classroom and held it open for them. As Ron went to follow, Harry held his arm out to stop him.

"You can't come in-"

"What do you mean I can't-"

"I mean this is private-"

"I'm your best mate-"

"You may well be, but this isn't anything to do with me-"

"Ron," Aeryn interrupted, grabbing his arm and attempted to pull him away before fight broke out. He shrugged her off and glared at Harry.

"This is about what they told Hermione last week, isn't it?" he questioned, accusingly.

"Yes," Harry replied, bluntly. "Which is why you can't come in-"

"Well how come you can go in?"

"Just stop it!" Hermione interrupted, standing between the two boys and pushing them away from each other. "You're being ridiculous. Just get the hell in and close the door." Ron walked through the door, a look of triumph on his face and him and Aeryn waited at the back.

"You're great at keeping secrets," Siobhan said, sarcastically, looking at the other people in the room and then at Draco, who wore an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, Harry found me in the library," Hermione replied, sheepishly, pulling the book from her bag and looking down at it unsurely.

"I couldn't find anything," she admitted, holding it out for Siobhan to take. "They were very specific when putting the spells on there and I can't find anything that would tell me how on Earth they did it."

"I didn't think you'd be able to," Siobhan replied, shrugging and taking the book back. The six of them descended into silence for a moment.

"I think we should tell Lupin," Draco offered.

"No," Siobhan replied, sharply, turning round to glare at him, despite the fact he couldn't see her.

"Why _not_?"

"I've told you-"

"But-"

"Draco-"

"Lupin wouldn't have to tell anyone," Harry interrupted. "Technically, he's not a proper Auror. He just helps them out quite a lot. As a werewolf is considered a Beast, he's not allowed to have an 'official' job at the Ministry now that they know he's one. He could just keep it between the seven of us." Siobhan looked at him, thinking about it and then looked down at the book again.

"I still don't think it's a good idea. Suppose he _did _tell someone-"

"What are you so scared of?" Harry cried, throwing his hands in the air, annoyed. "Your parents finding out that you've given the Ministry the book? What will it matter, there's got to be enough in that book to earn them – and every other Death Eater – a one way ticked to Azkaban-"

"And if they broke out?" Siobhan questioned.

"Then you'd have the protection of the Ministry and the Order," he replied. Siobhan looked round at everyone, not sure what to say. She _never _lost an argument, but they all did have good points and it was unfair to Draco for him to be blind just because she was _scared_.

With a sigh of defeat, she muttered, "Alright." Then held the book out for Hermione to take back.

---

Explaining to Remus what the book was had been a painful experience – what with the amount of questions he asked compared to the small number of answers they could give him to those questions. After nearly an hour of trying to convince him the book was what they said it was, he arranged with McGonagall for the six of them to leave during school hours to find out _exactly _what it said in the book. Though Portkey's were meant to be arranged with the Ministry, they didn't want to waste three days setting one up and they _certainly _didn't want questions as to why they were travelling to Azkaban. Of course, the Ministry would find out that they visited the prison anyway, but they hoped that by the time that happened, they'd have some good evidence against all the Death Eaters that would allow them to bring them all in.

Harry had always hated travelling by Portkey and it came close to his experience of Floo Powder. Grateful at least that they wouldn't have to apparate, Harry had wrapped his hand around the old watch they were using. The seven of them had landed at the edge of the cliff where Azkaban Prison was situated.

"Come on," Remus ordered, his face looking rather pale due to the closeness of the next full moon and the pressure he was under to get them all through safely. The students clambered to their feet and hurried after him so they wouldn't get lost. The atmosphere was already horrible and Harry knew it would only get worse the closer they got. He looked up to see Dementors soaring through the sky and pulled his cloak tighter around his body uneasily. Remus had cast a Patronus that was now walking along in front of them and Harry pulled his own wand out, pointing it behind them so that his Stag Patronus would follow them and keep off any other Dementors.

"Don't any of you talk," Remus ordered. "We're meant to have a Ministry Official with us and I don't even know if we'll be able to get in. Three of you pull your hoods over your heads and the other three hold their arms and take their wands, hurry up." They all nodded and hurried to do as they were told. Aeryn, Harry and Draco pulled their hoods up – Draco so that Siobhan could still guide him and Harry in case he was recognised by anyone – and handed their wands over, the stag Patronus disappearing as soon as Harry gave his wand over. They soon came to a stop in front of a stone wall. Remus stepped up to it and cast what looked like a very complicated charm. Slowly, the bricks parted, revealing a guard almost twice their size. If he'd had a beard, he could probably have passed off as Hagrids twin.

"Name?"   
"Remus Lupin," the werewolf replied.

"Reason for your visit?"

"I have three suspected Death Eaters that I would like to show to one of your prisoners for confirmation." Remus handed him a piece of paper that had been forged with the Minister for Magic's writing and signature, telling the guard who they wished to see. The three students with hoods on bowed their heads so that the guard wouldn't see their faces and conclude that they were much too young to be Death Eaters. His eyes lingered on Ron and Hermione and they wondered if they'd been recognised, holding their breath when the guard opened his mouth.

"Aren't your _guards _a little young?" the man asked, sceptically.

"They've just completed their training," Remus replied, casually. "This was a low risk assignment and it didn't matter who got to do it. Now, would you mind?" The guard spared the six of them one brief look before pulling a wand from his belt and turning round, muttering a quick, "Follow me, then." They walked to the end of the corridor and waited as the guard cast a few charms on the door in front of them, opening it. He ushered them all through, closed and locked the door and then cast a Patronus. Harry watched a silver wolf erupt from the end of his wand and pad forward to guard them against Dementors. The guard looked at the six of them again as he passed, and Harry got the feeling he didn't completely believe the story he was being given.

"I'll need your wands before you go any further," he said, holding out a large hand for the seven wands. Harry looked up through his fringe at Remus, who didn't seem to be too happy about this arrangement either.

"Surely that's not necessary," Remus interrupted. "They-"

"- have to give me their wands before they can go on. I'm also meant to put handcuffs on any prisoners for security reasons." The three students without hoods on looked at Remus for confirmation. He seemed to be thinking about it, but eventually pulled his wand from his robe pocket and handed it over. The others did the same and the guard put them all in an inside pocket of his robe, before looking at Harry.

"Come here," he ordered. Harry did as he was told, but the guard still grabbed him roughly by his shoulder, gripping him enough to hurt him and materialising a pair of handcuffs around Harry's wrists. Obviously having a strong negative opinion of Death Eaters, the guard grabbed the handcuffs, doing them up a lot tighter than was necessary so that they dug into his wrists. Harry winced, balling his fists and letting the guard push him back towards Hermione, who barely managed to stop him ploughing into Aeryn. The guard looked at her suspiciously and Hermione suddenly realised she should have just let the two of them crash into each other like she would have if they were really Death Eaters. Looking away from the eyes of the guard, Hermione grabbed Harry's arm again and tried to make it look like she wasn't concerned. Aeryn was in front of the guard by this time and he looked down at her, grabbing her wrists and conjuring a pair of cuffs identical to the ones Harry was now wearing. He looked up at Hermione as he closed the handcuffs and she tried as hard as she could not to wince at how hard he was closing them on Aeryn's wrists. Obviously annoyed that he'd gotten no reaction from Hermione, the guard shoved Aeryn backwards. Her back hit the wall and she glared up at him as he turned his attention to Draco – who got similar treatment. Siobhan panicked a little when she realised the guard would be suspicious if she stepped forward with Draco and she gave him a quick shove in the right direction, hoping the guard wouldn't realise he was blind and take advantage of it. Thankfully, as soon as he was finished with the cuffs on Draco, he turned round and followed his Patronus, which meant that Draco wouldn't have to try and make his way back to Siobhan on his own, and she grabbed his arm as she walked past, pulling him after everyone else. Hermione _daren't _ask Harry if he was okay and instead squeezed his arm reassuringly.

Harry wasn't sure whether it was just him, but the corridors seemed to get colder the further in to the building they went and he shivered more than once. Dementors glided down each and every corridor, and though the Patronus ahead was keeping them away, it took all of Harry's willpower not to turn around and leave. They came to another door that the guard had to open with his wand and Harry took the opportunity to look behind them. As soon as he had, he suddenly wished he hadn't. The Dementors were following them.

"Who is it?" a voice asked gruffly from behind the door.

"Derk," the guard in front of them called back. Ron resisted the urge to laugh at his name and looked down at the floor to hide his smile. Derk didn't seem to notice and the door in front of them opened, creaking loudly and echoing down the corridor. The man standing behind it gave them all a once over, his eyes lingering on the three with handcuffs.

"Suspected Death Eaters," Derk explained, closing the door as Siobhan and Draco stepped through. "Mr. Lupin's brining them in." The other mans eyes snapped up to look at Remus and his eyes narrowed.

"Aren't you the werewolf?" he asked, suspiciously.

"Yes," Remus replied, straightening his back and staring him down.

"I didn't think people like _you _were allowed to work at the Ministry."

"We're not allowed to have official jobs, but you know as well as everyone else that the Ministry doesn't follow its own rules. They sent me because everyone else is out looked for the Death Eaters that _you _let escape." The guards eyes narrowed and he glared at Remus.

"Perhaps I should send an owl to the Ministry and check this with them." Harry felt a wave of panic wash over him and he shuffled on his feet nervously.

"By all means," Remus challenged.

"We don't have time to do this," Derk interrupted, stepping between the two men. "Some of us have a family to go home to." The guard spared Remus one last scathing look before nodding and tagging along on the end of the line, obviously not at all willing to let them go alone. He cast his own Patronus, which as it turned out, was also a wolf.

The next door they came to had no one guarding it and opened with a quick _Alohamora! _spell, granting them access to a spiral staircase. Ron glanced over the banister, realising that he couldn't see the bottom.

"How far down are we going?" he asked. Remus glared at him and Ron quickly snapped his mouth shut. Neither guard noticed the exchange.

"Right to the bottom," Derk replied, chuckling and starting down the stairs, gripping the banister tight. The six of them soon found out that if you _didn't _hold the banister, you were more than likely to fall over. The stairs were steep and the roof had fallen through in several places, letting in the rain and making the stairs slippery. The three with the handcuffs on couldn't hold onto the banister and all three of them fell over more than once – Draco more-so than anyone else. The guard who had tagged along behind them seemed to be unwilling to show any mercy and if they didn't get up quickly, he'd kick them and then grab the back of their shirts to yank them to their feet.

The walk down the stairs seemed to take forever and Harry was beginning to think they'd never get there, when his feet touched flat ground. Derk was busy opening another door ahead of them and the other guard was near pushing Draco down the last few steps. None of them dared saying anything for fear of being overheard.

"Just through here," Derk told them, swinging the door open and stepping through. At the back of the line, Draco fell down the last few steps, landing flat on his back.

"Get up," the guard ordered, pushing between Ron and Aeryn and grabbing Draco's arm, yanking him to his feet. Siobhan stepped forward and grabbed Draco again, quickly pulling him through the door and leaving Aeryn, Ron and the guard to follow them. The other four had already stopped by the time they got there and were standing outside one of the cell doors. There were more Dementors down here than anywhere else in the Prison and Harry looked around anxiously, desperately wanting to cast his own Patronus and make himself feel safer. It was only as he turned his head round faster than he had meant to, to see whether there were Dementors behind them that his hood fell off. He closed his eyes and groaned, knowing Derk had recognised him already.

"Aren't you Harry Potter?" he asked, only confirming the suspicion. Remus looked round, his eyes wide and staring at Harry. They were going to make a run for it, but the other guard walked through the door after closing it and then stopped, looking at Harry too.

"I knew there was something off about you lot!" Derk said, pointing his wand at them. Ron was the first one to act. Balling his fist, he slammed it into the guards chin behind them, knocking him backwards so that he landed on his feet. Remus brought his own fist into Derk's face and he dropped his wand.

"Find it!" Remus ordered, before Derk had recovered from the sudden blow. Harry looked around on the floor desperately. The Patronus' had both gone, which meant there was nothing to keep the Dementors from attacking them. Siobhan had pushed Draco against the wall so he wouldn't get caught in the fight and then ran over to Aeryn and Ron, both of which were trying to keep the other guard from getting to his feet.

"Get his bloody wand," Siobhan ordered, looking up at the Dementors. Ron had his hands around the guards throat, but he still seemed to be unwilling to give up his wand. Siobhan looked around desperately, and her eyes fell on a loose plank of wood that must have fallen off the boarded up window above them. Picking it up, she brought it down hard on the guards head. It didn't completely knock him unconscious, but he groaned and his grip loosened enough for Aeryn to snatch the wand from his hand. She pointed it at him, stunned him and then turned round to where the other three were trying to take care of Derk. After having recovered from the punch, Derk had hit Remus back, sending him sprawling on the floor. Hermione was still looking for the wand and as Derk came at her, he was knocked off his feet, landing with a 'thud' on his back. Ron looked at Harry, who had his cuffed hands out in front of him.

"_Stupefy!_" A blue light erupted from the end of the wand Aeryn was holding and Derk stopped moving.

"Patronus!" Siobhan urged. They must have been surrounded by at least thirty odd Dementors by this point and Aeryn raised the wand again, pointing it in their direction. Trying to think of a happy memory, she came up blank.

"Come _on_!"

"I'm _trying_!" Aeryn replied, closing her eyes, she thought back and then quickly shouted out, "_Expecto Patronum!_" The white light erupted from her wand, a dragon darting forward to snap at the Dementors. It only managed to get rid of nine or ten of them before it started to disappear and Harry looked round desperately for the other wand, spying it laying a few feet away. Falling onto his knees, he scoped it into his hands, pointed it at the Dementors and shouted out the spell to conjure his Patronus. The stag burst from the end of the wand and ran straight through the centre of the group of hovering Dementors. Aeryn's Patronus joined it after a few moments and the Dementors scattered.

"Get our wands," Harry urged, looking over at Hermione. "They'll be more powerful and last longer." Hermione did as she was told, handing Harry his wand and chucking Aeryn's to Ron, who quickly gave it to her. The dragon and stag disappeared for a few moments before reappearing, a little brighter than before now that the owners of each had their own wands. Remus groaned from on the floor a few feet away and Hermione hurried over to make sure he was alright.

"What happened?" Draco asked as he felt Siobhan's hand on his arm.

"Uh…they recognised us?" Siobhan offered, weakly, taking her wand as Hermione offered it to her and pointing it at the cuffs on Draco's wrists. They snapped off easily and fell to the floor. Draco rubbed his wrists, feeling the skin split in some places. Harry's wrists were no better, and Aeryn's were slightly worse as Derk had decided to use her to see if Hermione would react at all.

"Come on," Remus muttered, gruffly, climbing to his feet. "Let's get this sorted out. We're not going to have much time." Accepting his own wand back, Remus pointed it at the door at the end after studying the names of each prisoner on the cell doors. He held it open, offering an encouraging smile to Harry as he walked in.

"Well, Potter, I must say, you're the _last_ person I expected – or wanted – to see…"

----

**[1 That's pronounced [Mi-ha-lo-vich**

**A/N – I was singing 'Wheels On The Bus' to get my sister to sleep while proof-reading this, so it may not be all that wonderful. And if you came to a part when it went something like this;**

"**The Wheels on the Bus!" Harry said. **

"**Go round and round!" Ron replied. **

**Then I do apologise. **

**I would have re-checked it, but I'm going on holiday tomorrow, so I really don't have time. **


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N – I haven't proof-read it. I was sick of re-writing it so many times that I actually couldn't be bothered to do it after writing it four the fourth time. If there are any mistakes in it, I apologise in advance.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Nineteen**

"I wasn't too keen on seeing you either," Harry replied, scowling at the Death eater and then looking round at the door to make sure everyone was in the room. Hermione was behind him, her wand drawn and her eyes fixed on the Prisoner. Draco and Siobhan where standing near the back of the room, keeping out of the way and Ron and Aeryn were by the boarded up window, their wands drawn and pointed at the wooden boards. Harry caught a glimpse of his and Aeryn's Patronus' outside the door, patrolling to make sure that none of the Dementors came near the cell. Seeing his own stag filled him with confidence and he turned back round to the Prisoner. He was already staring at him and Harry returned his gaze loathingly opening his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of splintering wood and moonlight pouring into the cell. It provided enough light to see clearly and Harry looked around. It was a lot smaller than he originally thought it was and he almost cringed at the thought of having to spend an entire lifetime down there.

"So," the person on the bed started, rising to his feet and walking slowly over to the window. Ron pushed Aeryn backwards and then pointed his wand up at the Death Eater – obviously still holding a grudge. "To what do I own this _please_?" He reached the bared up window and leaned his back against the wall, looking up at the sky. Harry could see the water crashing into the cliff barely 10ft below them and counted every 7th wave come into the room, wetting the Death Eaters shirt and then falling to the floor and flowing slowly around their feet.

"We need you to do something for us," Harry explained, making sure not to give away too much in case the Death Eater decided not to help them and then managed to get to the others with the information. He watched him standing at the window and supposed he probably hadn't seen the sky in quite some time, wondering briefly why he hadn't bothered to take away the boards himself before this. Ron and Aeryn had their wands out though, so they had probably used magic to get most of the boards away.

"And what is it you would like me to do?" he asked without looking round.

"We need your help to convict Lucius-"

"And if I refuse to help you?"

"Well," Harry replied, pulling a vial of Potion from his pocket and lifting it up to eye level so that he could make sure he'd taken the right one out. "I trust you know what this is? It's a Potion, so I don't see any reason why you wouldn't." He stepped forward and held out the potion for the Death Eater to take, watching as he pulled off the cork and sniffed it before looking back up at Harry again.

"Veritaserum," the ex-Potions Professor replied. "Which I assume you'll give me providing I refuse to co-operate."

"Spot on."

Twirling the vial round in his hand, he asked, "And since you've so _kindly _given me this potion to hold, just what do you plan to do if I decide that there seems to be no good reason not to smash it or throw it out the window?"

"I have another one," Harry replied, patting his pocket subconsciously. Snape seemed to think about this for a second before holding the potion out for him to take and then turning back to the window once again.

"What would you like to know?" he asked. Harry did a double take.

"You're going to help us?" he questioned, thinking it would be a lot harder than that. "Just like that?" Snape turned round; his eyes flashing with anger, making Harry take cautious step backwards. He saw his Patronus waver outside and tried to concentrate on it.

"If you would rather try and convince another Death Eater down here to help you, then by all means, enjoy trying-"

"But _why _do you want to help us?"

"And why, Potter, must you question every answer I give you?" Snape hissed, stepping forward – only to stop when five wands flew up to point at him. "I'm fully aware that after I help you I am likely to receive nothing in return, but as I am _still _serving my life sentence – purely because Lucius Malfoy refused to open my cell door – I feel he should still be serving it alongside me. Now, Potter, if that is not a good enough answer for you then I strongly suggest that you _leave_." Harry stared at him for a few moments, trying to decide whether or not he should trust him. After all, Dumbledore had done that, and look where it had got _him_.

"We want you to look at something," he explained, eventually. He turned to Siobhan, who pulled the book from a magically enlarged pocket of her robes and held it out to Snape. He looked between the two of them briefly before stepping forward and taking the book, which he turned round a few times in his hands, a frown on his face.  
"What would you like me to do with it?"

"Well can you read it?" Harry questioned. A confused look crossed Snape's face and he looked down at the book, opening it on the first page. His eyes scanned the text before looking back up at Harry.

"It's written in perfectly understandable English, Potter, so unless you've suddenly developed a rare disease rendering you incapable of reading such, I see no reason why you _wouldn't _be able to read it. I can't say I'd be surprised however. You never _were _the brightest crayon in the box-"

"I did _not _come here to be insulted by you," Harry interrupted, scowling at him.

"There's a spell on it that only lets Death Eaters read it," Hermione explained, interrupting before Harry lost his temper. Snape looked round at her as if only just realising that she were there.

"Miss Granger – always with the undeniable urge to explain everything before anyone else can even open their mouth-" Harry stormed forward and cut him short, slamming him backwards into the wall and ramming his wand into his throat – a lot harder than was necessary.

"You're no longer my Professor, so don't make the mistake of thinking that I'll let you get away with insulting me or my friends. The fact that I no longer have to hold respect for you – which I didn't anyway – means that I could kill you right now if I wanted to-"

"Where are your manners, Potter?" Snape hissed, his mouth twisting into a smirk. "Surely growing up with _Muggles _can't have left you _this _rude and arrogant as your _filthy _Father-"

"If all you're capable of doing is insulting everyone, then perhaps a few spells will get this conversation moving in the right direction?" Harry threatened. "And don't think I won't. There are two guards laying unconscious outside-"

"You needn't have taken such drastic measures to come and see me, Potter," Snape's drawling voice replied, only making Harry press his wand deeper into his throat. He opened his mouth to spit back a retort, but Hermione wrapped her hand around his arm and pulled him away gently. Harry refused to move for a second or two, but eventually stepped away, ramming Snape backwards into the wall and then shrugging Hermione off. The book had fallen on the floor a few moments ago and Harry picked it up, thrusting it into the Death Eaters chest and glowering at him.

"Now start looking through that book," he told him. "We need the counter curse to a spell that's capable of making someone blind, and then when you've found it, we're going to give you a quill and parchment and you're going to write it down." With that said, Harry breezed out of the cell and into the corridor, where Remus was waiting. He heard Hermione follow him out and looked round at her briefly before his eyes settled on Remus, who was sitting against the wall beside Derk.

"How's it going in there?" Remus asked, looking up at the two of them. "I take it he's co-operating?" Harry nodded, thinking that Remus looked even worse than he did before and wondered briefly just how close the next full moon was.

"What are we going to do about these two?" Harry asked, looking at the two guards on the floor in front of them.

"Well, we need at least one of them to get back up," the werewolf replied, rising to his feet so that he wouldn't have to look up at Harry while he was talking to him. "There are spells on the doors that only the guards know how to get past."

"Couldn't we just give one of them Veritaserum?" Harry questioned, curiously.

"It wouldn't work," Remus explained. "The spells work like the Fidelus Charm. Only the person who made up the passwords can tell them to other people, which in this case is most likely to be the Minister of Magic; Scrigmour. If we asked either of these two, they'd just forget what we were talking about. It's a complex charm."

"I get it," Harry replied, watching Remus stroll around the room, his wand out and hanging limply at his side as he studied both the guards by the light of the two Patronus' that were still patrolling the corridor.

"But then what other options are there?" Hermione questioned, sharing a confused look with Harry."

"The _Imperious_ Curse," Remus replied indifferently.

"But you could get arrested!"

"No I can't," he told them, smirking. "I'm a werewolf and therefore considered a beast. A beast can't be sentenced to imprisonment in Azkaban and normally in the case of one breaking the Wizarding lay they're just killed. As a werewolf is an unusual case and as we're part human that would be considered murder. Therefore – the Ministry being lazy as it is – the only things Werewolves are ever convicted for is if they intentionally murder someone or if they're a proven Death Eater. As the _Imperious _curse doesn't fall into either of those categories, they won't do anything about it." Harry listened intently, nodding in understanding when he'd finished.

"What do they do with werewolves when they're convicted as a murderer or Death Eater?" Hermione asked, curiously.

"They're put on one of the lower levels of the Ministry and given the Wolfsbane Potion every month."

"And Greyback?"

"He's a Death Eater and has deliberately killed, so he wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon if they caught him." Remus looked behind Harry and stopped talking, making Harry look round to find Ron there.

"He's found something," Ron told him nodding his head into the cell. Harry followed him back in and looked at Snape expectantly.

"Well?" he demanded. Snape looked up at him.

"_Well_, I have two pieces of news for you, Potter. As your _friend _here explained when I asked, you haven't a clue what the last thing in this book is. Assuming you _would _like to know and as I feel no remorse in telling you – It is a list of every known Death Eater accompanied by a list of all attacks, murders and acts of torture carried out by each. Updated instantly by magic." He stopped for a moment and squinted at the page, trying to make out what was appearing there by using the bad lighting he was being given. "It looks like Bellatrix is having a little bit of fun right now-"

"What else?" Harry demanded, not interested in Snape's ramblings at the moment. So many people were being killed that they wouldn't have gotten to whatever poor person Bellatrix was torturing in time anyway. Snape looked up at Harry's demanding tone and his eyes flickered to look at Hermione, his mouth opening and then closing as if he weren't sure whether or not he should tell her something. Harry made the decision for him with a loud, prompting cough and though his eyes lingered on her for a second longer, Snape soon looked back down at the book.

"Now, I once again assume that you would rather get more reliable results and find the spell on your own-"

"Where are you going with this?"

"If you'd let me finish," he replied, firmly, his eyes flashing up to glare at Harry. "I was going to tell you that I've found the counter curse to the spells on this book. All I need to break them is a wand-"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Harry interrupted. Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Harry glared at him. "Look Potter, even if I managed to take you all down, you've got Lupin outside who'll have realised what was going on by then and will take me down anyway. Now just give me a wand so you can all leave and I can go back to brooding in silence." Harry looked at the book for a moment before turning round and snatching Draco's wand from his hand.

"Hey!"

"Well you can't see, so you're not going to be much help if he decides to attack, are you?" He handed the wand over to Snape and then pointed his own at him, ready for if he decided to attack them. He seemed to have no intention of doing so and Harry watched as he pointed the wand at his own arm where the Dark Mark was visible by the moonlight. At first nothing happened, but as Snape pulled his wand away, a thin wisp of smoke came with it, seemingly drawn to the book, which it slowly wrapped itself around. Harry stepped closer, watching as the scribbles changed into words he could understand.

"There," the Death Eater said coldly, thrusting the book and Draco's wand at Harry. "Now, I trust you can find the counter curse on your own?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, giving the book back to Siobhan and the wand to Draco. "I think we I can manage that one." Snape nodded and looked back round at the window, not so much as sparing them a glance as they left the cell. Harry closed and locked the door with as many powerful locking spells as he could think of and then turned round to look at Remus, who was now standing above the smaller guard, his wand pointed at his chest.

"Is everyone here?" he asked, looking round at the group. Harry nodded and the words 'Enervate' and 'Imperio' left the Marauders mouth in quick succession. At once the guard's eyes snapped open, looking disturbingly vacant, and though he was looking directly at Remus, he didn't seem to acknowledge his presence. Slowly, and in a similar fashion to a two year old child who had just learnt to walk, the guard climbed to his feet and walked unsteadily towards the door.

"Is this going to work?" Ron asked from the back of the group where Aeryn's Patronus was walking along. "I mean, I thought they had no control over what they were doing-"

"They don't," Remus replied. "But they retain all their original memories and are aware of what they're doing on some level, so if I simply tell him to open the door then it should work." Ron made a small 'oh' of confirmation and understanding, watching as the guard opened the door to the spiral staircase before walking through and starting up the stairs. Remus made sure to make him hold onto the rail and everyone followed his lead.

"What door did we come in through?" Harry asked, suddenly realising that every single door looked exactly the same.

"I counted the floors, don't worry," Remus replied.

"You intended to knock the guards out?" Harry arched an eyebrow in surprise and curiosity.

"No, it was a caution in case we _did _have to knock them out. It wouldn't do to have no idea where we were going on the way out." They were only on the eighth level – barely half way up the entire staircase – when Remus stopped. Harry leaned over the rail to look down from where they had come from.

"This it?"

"I think there are two more doors to go," Remus replied, looking over the rail too briefly before starting up the stairs again. Siobhan had given up trying to drag Draco up the stairs by this point and Ron and Harry had taken over. Dragging extra body weight on top of their own up the slippery stairs proved to be a lot harder than they thought it may have been and they collapsed against the wall as soon as they got to the right floor, both glaring at the blonde haired Slytherin.

"When we find the counter curse to your blindness, you had better repay us for _everything _we've done for you," Harry wheezed, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth despite the threat. Draco chuckled, his hand now back on Siobhan's shoulder and his mouth forming the words 'You wish' –

"Quite!" Remus hissed, making them stop and look round. He had stopped the guards with his wand pointed at the lock on the door and Harry was about to ask what was gong on when voices carrying through the door stopped him. The seven of them looked at each other, a fleeting moment of panic spreading through the group – then they were all hurtling back down the stairs. Siobhan and Harry were almost dragging Draco at the front of the group, everyone else trailing behind them.

"In here," Siobhan said, pulling her wand from her pocket and pointing it at the closed door in front of them. There was a reassuring click and Harry dropped Draco's arm, pushing the door open and then holding it open for everyone else to Ron through. As soon as the guard was in, Harry pushed the door closed in time to see the one above them open. After putting a simple locking charm on the door, Harry stood back and then felt Hermione grab his arm, dragging him under and arch covered in shadow to hide them from view in case anyone looked down the corridor.

"Get rid of the Patronus'," Siobhan hissed from the arch opposite them, where her, Draco, Ron and Aeryn were standing. Harry looked round at the stag and dragon, frowning.

"What about the Dementors?"

"Get them round the corner at _least_." The two Patronus' disappeared round to the next corridor, plunging them all into darkness. Harry blinked a few times, his eyes adjusting enough to see Hermione.

"…don't like coming to this place," a voice said outside the door, the light of a Patronus suddenly lighting the corridor up again and providing enough light for Harry to see the four across from him again.

"It gives me the creeps," the voice added.

"Well, it was either this or playing bodyguard for the Muggles at St. Mungos. Personally, I don't that would have been any better." A shadow cast on the door showed that someone was walking past the door and it stopped at the other end as another came to join it.

"I myself would very much like to know where my prison guards have got to," another voice interrupted. Harry narrowed his eyes in thought; sure that he recognised the voice. "They'll have a lot to answer to when I find them."

There was quiet snicker from one of the men standing in front of the door and then the other, obviously not seeing a need to laugh at the misfortune of the guards, spoke, "So, who are we her to see?"

"Rodulphus Lestrange," the familiar voice replied. "He may still be in Azkaban, but I don't see why it's impossible for a _Death Eater_ to have contact with the others."

"It's such a shame though," the man in front of the door said as another shadow joined them before walking past. "To have gone through the Final Battle and _then _have her parents tortured and possibly murdered-"

"I'd hold much more sympathy was she not associated with Potter." Harry suddenly clicked; the owner of the voice now so obvious that he mentally slapped himself for not realising who it was sooner. Looking over at Ron, Harry realised that he too had figured out who the voice belonged to.

The light of the Patronus disappeared, but they all stayed where they were, not daring to move until the sound of footstep had completely faded. Ron went first, pulling his wand out of his pocket, though Harry doubted he would try to hex anyone. Without a word for fear of being overheard, the seven of them and the _Imperioused _guard darted back up the stairs, not stopping again until they reached the door where Derk had taken their wands and handcuffed three of them. Remus had the guard open the door and then stunned and confounded him, watching him drop to the floor awkwardly.

"Hopefully he can pass off as being drunk," Remus explained. "He'll have passed out from the alcohol-"

"What if they ask him about-?"

"Us?" Remus asked, looking at Harry as he walked out the door. "Memory charms. He won't remember a thing." He breezed past them and into the first corridor after the stone wall, letting Ron close the door behind them. Harry and Aeryn let their Patronus' disappear and then they were off again.

"What about Derk?" Draco asked. "They'll find him when they get down there-"

"He thinks he banged his head while going on his routine check of the Prisoners and knocked himself out."

"You thought of everything, eh?" Harry asked chuckling at the smirk on the Marauders face. Remus pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, holding it up long enough for Harry to see that it was the fake form they had used to get in, and then pointed his wand at it, setting it alight and turning it into ash.

"What kind of Marauder would I be if I didn't?" Remus replied, tucking his wand away and guiding them to the six students to a point on the edge of the cliff. The Portkey activated as soon as they touched it and then they felt themselves leave the floor, already braced for a painful landing.

----

The seven of them crashed to the ground, groaning in pain at the sudden impact. They were at the edge of the black lake, in an area hidden by enough plants and trees to keep them out of sight of any passing students. The sun was dipping below the horizon, showing them how much time had passed since they'd left for Azkaban.

"You'd think with everything wizards have come up with, they'd think of a way to make travelling by Portkey less painful," Hermione said, taking the hand Harry offered her to help her to her feet.

"Come on," Remus called, already on his way to the castle. The others followed, not wanting to get caught in what looked like it would be a storm – if the clouds were any indication. McGonagall was waiting by the doors of the castle and Harry expected something along the lines of 'what took you so long?' or 'what on Earth were you doing there for all that time?' but instead, she walked straight to Hermione, a forlorn expression on her face.

"Miss Granger, could I have a quick word please?" she looked over to an empty classroom and then back at Hermione.

"Uh…of course, Professor," Hermione replied, looking uncertainly at Harry, who stepped forward to go with them.

"_Just _Miss Granger, please-"

"No, it's alright Professor," Hermione interrupted, sliding her hand into Harry's. The Headmistress looked between the two of them before nodding.

"Very well." The three of them entered the classroom, shutting the door behind them. Ron instantly ran over and put his ear to the door in the hopes that McGonagall hadn't placed a silencing charm on the door. No such luck. Remus had left with the book, telling Siobhan that she and Draco should come round to the Defence Classroom tomorrow if they were interested in helping look for the spell.

"So, what do you make of the Minister being at Azkaban?" Ron asked, looking across at Draco, trying to break the uneasy silence.

"I never knew he felt so strongly against Harry's fame," Draco chuckled. "The man seems to have the right idea-"

"That was your Minister of Magic?" Aeryn interrupted, saying the first word a lot louder than was necessary and cutting into the argument that she knew would start.

"Rufus Scrigmour," Draco confirmed.

"Hated Harry the moment he met him," Ron added, still glaring at the Slytherin who mumbled something that Aeryn thought closely resembled the words 'well who could blame him?'.

"Who's Rodulphus?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange's husband," Draco replied. "Probably thinks he should make it look like he cares about what's going on by going to interrogate one of the Death Eaters. Not that they have any contact with the escaped ones-"

"And you know this how?" Ron interrupted.

"And just _how_, Weasley, would you expect them to communicate outside of Azkaban with people that are in it?"

"Well I don't know, you just seemed pretty confident in your answer-"

"Snape would hardly have helped us if they were still in contact with Death Eaters-"

"Oh do shut up," Siobhan huffed, rolling her eyes and glaring at Ron. "_Must _the two of you argue about _everything_?"

"Yes," Draco replied. "We've never got on all that well-"

"Oh really?" Aeryn asked, raising an eyebrow. "I never would have guessed."

"I know, subtle aren't they?" Siobhan added. Ron threw the both of them a sarcastic glare and leaned against the wall behind him, looking towards the door his best friends had disappeared through.

"Wonder what she's talking to them about?" he mused.

"Knowing Granger, school grades," Draco scoffed, earning him a slap upside the head from his girlfriend.

"She looked too serious to be telling them about school grades-" Ron was cut off as the door flew open and then four of them looked up, surprised to see Hermione burst out of the room, tears flowing down her face. Harry followed and only stopped because Ron grabbed his arm.

"What's going on?"

"Hermione's parents," Harry replied, looking after his girlfriend. "Uh…Bellatrix…HERMIONE!" Shrugging Ron's arm off, Harry charged after Hermione, who had already run through the front doors of the school.

"What the hell?" Ron was standing up straight now, a confused look spread across his face. Realisation dawned on Aeryn first and she turned round to look at him.

"Hermione's parents," she said.

"Hermione's parents what?" Ron questioned, returning her gaze. She slapped his arm.

"Bellatrix attacked Hermione's parents."

"Hermione wait!" Harry called, losing sight of her briefly in the pouring rain. He'd barely taken a step through the doors and he was already soaked. "Hermione!" McGonagall had told them that a Portkey had been arranged and would activate the second the person holding it stepped out of the grounds, and without even waiting for anyone to say anything, Hermione had stormed out of the room, grabbing the Portkey on her way.

"Hermione, would you just please hold on a moment?" Harry tried again to no avail. She ignored him and carried on running. It was only as she was running across one of the well trodden paths that people took to Hogsmeade that she stopped after slipping on the wet mud and falling over. Harry charged forward before she could get up and kneeled in front of her, stopping her from getting to her feet.

"Get off me!" Hermione cried, attempting to push him away.

"Just listen," he begged, wincing when she hit his chest. "H-Hermione-"

"Just let go of me! M-my parents-"

"Listen-"

"-I-I need to see them-"

"Herm-"

"-they might be dead-"

"I kno-"

"-what if they're dead?"

"HERMIONE!" Harry shouted, shaking her shoulders and forcing her to look up at him, though he could barely even see her through the falling rain. "Just calm down, alright?"

"How in the hell am I meant to calm down?" she screamed, putting her hands on his chest and pushing him away. He fell backwards into the mud, giving her enough time to rise to her feet and take a few steps towards the gate. Harry was up a couple of seconds later and he grabbed her arm, spinning her back round and receiving a punch in the chest.

"H-Hermione! Hermione! Stop it!"

"Would you just let me go?"

"You are _not _going to help anyone by going to see them in this state!" Her resolve finally crumbling at his words, Hermione buried her head in his chest, gripping his shirt in her hands. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer and kissing the top of her head.

"Now come on," he said, rubbing her back and pulling the Portkey out of her hand. "Let's go and make sure your parents are alright." He managed to get her out of the grounds and into the apparition point of St. Mungos without further hassle and a few moments later, they were making their way towards the receptionist desk. People watched them as they walked past and though he saw the flash of a camera more than once, he ignored them, looking over at the woman behind the desk and slamming his hand on it to get her attention.

"Where are Mr. and Mrs. Granger?" he demanded. The receptionist looked up from her notes, opened her mouth to say something and then stopped dead when she saw who was standing in front of her. Not in the mood for this right now, Harry grabbed a piece of paper from in front of her that looked like a list and scanned his eyes over it. He finally found the names he was looking for towards the bottom and thanked her – even though she'd done nothing – before dragging Hermione down one of the corridors. He couldn't imagine what they looked like walking through St. Mungos covered in water and mud and quickly pulled his wand from his pocket, using a few drying charms on the both of them, having to practically tear Hermione away from him so that he could perform the charms on her.

After a few moments of wondering around aimlessly, Harry finally gave in and stopped a Medi-Witch.

"Sorry, do you know where the Grangers are being held?" he asked.

"Oh, of course Mr. Potter," the nurse replied, flushing. "I was just on my way to their ward now. Follow me." She looked at Hermione briefly and then walked off, leaving the two of them to follow her. Harry cursed silently when she lead them through one of the doors that they must have passed at least three times already and then squeezed Hermione's hand reassuringly. They stopped in front of the door at the end of the corridor and the Med-Witch turned to face them.

"Are you family?" she asked, looking at Hermione and then uneasily at Harry.

"She is," he replied, pointing to Hermione.

"I'm afraid that due to their condition, I can only allow family into the ward-"

"No," Hermione choked out, clinging onto Harry tighter. "_Please_."

"I-"

"Please. I-I don't-" The woman looked up and down the corridor and then back at the two of them, sighing in defeat. She couldn't not let him in.

"Alright, but if anyone asks, you're engaged, or married, or something," she hissed, ushering them both in quickly. Hermione let go of him for the first time in twenty minutes as soon as she saw the state her parents were in, rushing over to her mum's bed. Harry looked at the Granger's, his eyes falling on the crystals above their heads.

"How are they doing?" he asked, turning to the Medi-Witch and catching the name on her tag. 'Ileana'. An uncomfortable look crossed her face and she looked away from him at her two patients.

"Mr. Granger is recovering well," she explained. "It's amazing that he's managed to recover from the torture he received this quickly and the only explanation is that there must have been a Witch or Wizard in his family generations ago. He should make a full recovery and be awake within the next two days."

"And Mrs. Granger?" Harry prompted, his heart sinking when he saw the frown on her face. She looked up at him and stepped closer so that she could speak without Hermione hearing.

"She's not reacted to any of the medication we've given her," she replied before pointing to the crystals above the heads of both the Muggles in the beds. "They're healing crystals. While Mr. Granger's has been getting brighter every hour, Mrs. Grangers is dimming."

"Which means?"

"She's not likely to make it," Ileana told him. "As soon as the crystal goes out, I'm afraid it means that she's gone. We've tried everything to help her. Nothing has worked. I'm really sorry-"

"It's not your fault," Harry interrupted, looking round at Hermione who had now moved onto her dad's bed and was holding his pale hand in both of hers. "Thank you." She nodded and moved away from him towards the door.

"If you need anything, I'll just be at the end of the corridor," she said. "I'll be back in a moment." Harry nodded and watched her leave before going over to Hermione and wrapping his arms around her from behind. She dropped her dads hand gently and then turned around in his embrace, burying her head in his chest again, trying to repress a sob.

"Why _my _parents?" she asked, pulling him closer even though there was barely an inch of space between them.

"Because you're going out with me," he replied, pushing her away enough to look at her face. "They're doing it to get to me and we shouldn't be-"

"Don't you even go there," she hissed, anger flashing in hers eyes as a few tears fell from them. "I may lose both my parents and I am _not _losing you too."

"Hermione-"

"Harry, I love you," she pleaded a sob escaping her. "You are _not _leaving me now. Merlin help you even think about doing something so stupid." Harry smiled weakly and pulled her back into a hug, kissing the top of her head again.

"I'll get them," he promised. "Every last one of them and they're going to be so sorry for doing this to you." He felt Hermione nod and looked round briefly at the crystal above her mums head, sure it was a lot dimmer than when they had come in. Not wanting to draw her attention to it, Harry turned them round so that if she looked up she would be looking at her dad.

"Everyone's going to be there for you, you know. You'll get through this." She nodded again and he looked up. It was defiantly going out.

"I-I'll look after you a-and we'll make sure they never do it again." Another nod.

"I love you," she mumbled into his chest.

"You believe me, don't you?" he asked. "We'll get them and make them pay."

"Of course I do." Harry looked up at the sound of the door opening to find Ileana poking her head round. She mouthed the words 'visiting time is over' and sent him a hopeless and apologetic look. He nodded and rubbed Hermione's back, his eyes drawn to the crystal above her mum again.

It had gone out.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N – Hey Siobhan, sorry 'bout all the H/Hr stuff, but you know…I **_**am **_**a H/Hr shipper and so are most of my readers. So get used to it. Luff you really PK. **

**Moving on, two chapters in one night! Aren't I wonderful?? I felt I owed you all something. After disaster stuck on holiday, this story has been going pretty slow, but I will pick it back up, honestly. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling. **

**Chapter Twenty**

_New Head of the Auror Department_

_Dean Ludlum, former Head of the Auror Department resigned yesterday due to his failure to protect the parents of Hermione Granger – Harry Potters latest love interest – and his unsuccessful attempts to recapture the five Death Eaters that escaped from Azkaban at the end of January. _

_Taking his place, as the youngest Head Auror in nearly a century, will be twenty-five year old, Alfraido [Demetrio Zeus Fandango Searat Krumpit, who promises that the Death Eaters will be behind bars before summer hits the UK. _

_Born to Athena Krumpit (1973) alongside a non-identical twin brother – Banger Krumpit – the two brothers were brought up as Muggles, not hearing any mention of Magic until their Hogwarts letters arrived on the date of their eleventh birthday. Sorted into Gryffindor while his brother was sorted into Slytherin ensured that a rift would spread amongst the two of them, and this rift became noticeable in their fifth year when their mother was murdered from poisoning. Both shared different views on the matter – Banger's House having turned him against his own family in thinking that his mother was 'filthy' as she was a Muggle. Alfraido inherited most, if not all of the money she had, and the two brothers haven't spoken since. _

_While Alfraido grew up to become an Auror, it is believed that Banger was recruited to be a Death Eater __barely a year after graduation, though he has not been heard of since. The two boys, while never having told anyone the identity of their real father, are believed to be descended from an exceptionally powerful wizard, perhaps a Death Eater. This theory would provide motivation behind Alfraido becoming an Auror and assurance that Banger would be accepted to be a follower of Lord Voldemort. The grim determination with which he speaks of bringing down the Death Eaters only provides support to this theory and the _Daily Prophet _has made it one of their priorities to trace back the Auror's family history – though as his mother was unmarried and the two boys took her name, it would appear that the boys were the result of a brief affair. _

_Alfraido began his career as an Auror mere weeks after graduating from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and__ Wizardry, and trained for five years before becoming a fully fledged Auror. Due to his quite demeanour and unwillingness to participate in group conversations, Alfraido was not always taken seriously and many thought that he wouldn't ever become more than a back-up for the more experienced Auror's, despite the effort and determination he put into his training. The five year course for becoming an Auror was passed with almost flying colours from the young lad. _

_However, his first capture of a proven Death Eater in 1994 (aged 21) helped him to prove his worth to the rest of the Auror Division. Since then, between November of 1994 and March of 1996, Alfraido managed to capture and convict a total of seventeen Death Eaters single-handedly, that are all now serving life sentences in Azkaban Prison. _

_Another success worth mentioning of this young Auror is his participation in the Final Battle against Lord Voldemort. He managed to bring down almost a quarter of the Death Eaters without the help of any of his fellow Auror's and has since received an Order of Merlin Third Class for his efforts. _

_Perhaps part of his success is due to the fact that Alfraido discovered at an early age that he was able to change his own appearance. Until he began his schooling at Hogwarts,__ however, he kept this a close guarded secret and only then did he find out that this made him a Metamorphagi, a rarity in the Wizarding World. _

_He may have only been in the position for a day, but already he is trying to put some of his plans into action, starting with how he will bring down the remaining Death Eate__rs, the leader of which is now proven to be Lucius Malfoy. The _Daily Prophet _hope to see some of his plans in action in the near future and that he sets an example to anyone thinking of opposing the Ministry or their Auror Division. _

_The _Daily Prophet _will keep you informed. _

"Sounds like a charming bloke," Ron said, taking a bite of his bread roll and looking at the paper over Aeryn's shoulder. Harry looked up at him from his own plate.

"He doesn't seem that bad," he replied, shrugging. "At least he's _trying _to do something about the Death Eater problem-"

"Trying and failing."

"He's only been in the position for a day," Harry reminded him. Ron shrugged and picked up another bread roll from the plate in the middle of the table, cutting it half and then offering some to Aeryn.

"I thought the required age for becoming Head Auror was thirty?" Harry asked.

"Abolished a few years ago," Hermione piped up, turning everyone's attention to her. "They saw that some of the younger Auror's had potential and decided it would be fair to give them all a fair chance." She looked back down at the table on finishing the explanation and shovelled her dinner around her plate, seemingly having no intention of eating it any time soon. She'd been devastated when her mum had died while she had been standing mere inches away – though Harry hardly expected any other reaction. He'd had to practically drag her out of the ward when the nurse dimly announced that visiting hours were over. Another doctor had informed them on the procedures that would be taken seeing as she was a Muggle. Mrs. Granger would be transferred to a nearby Muggle hospital and the doctors would have their memories altered to think that she had been there all the time and had suffered a fatal heart attack – though her body had really just been too weak to survive through the countless _Crucio _it had, had cast on it. The doctors and nurses would also think that Hermione and her father had been round to arrange the funeral details, which they would inform her about when there were enough Auror's available to guard them during the ceremony. He promised that an owl would be sent to keep them both up to date.

Sharing a worried glance with Ron, Harry leaned across the table towards his girlfriend and put a hand on her arm.

"Hermione, please eat something."

"I'm not hungry," she insisted.

"You haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday," he reminded her. He understood that what she was going through wasn't easy, but was hardly going to let her starve herself. Ron sent him another glance across the table that suggested he thought Harry was completely wasting his time, but his eyes lingered on Hermione, showing that he was just as worried as Harry. Hermione looked up at the two of them and on seeing their stern expressions grudgingly stabbed a potato with her fork and ate it – trying to ignore the fact that it tasted more like cardboard than a potato.

Ron looked away from her first – seemingly satisfied now that she'd eaten at least _something _– and picked up the newspaper from where Aeryn had put it when she'd finished reading it earlier, his eyes scanning the front page article again.

"It's a shame Scrigmour didn't take responsibility for the Azkaban problem," he muttered. "Then maybe _he _would have resigned-"

"And what if you got someone worse after him?" Aeryn asked, making Ron look up from the paper and raise an eyebrow.

"Ever the optimist, eh?"

"Just saying."

"Knowing my luck mate, Aeryn's probably right," Harry interjected. "The next one will be out to send me to Azkaban." Hermione looked up from her plate at him, a mixture of fear and worry on her face. Harry sent her an apologetic smile and reached across the table for her hand, which his squeezed reassuringly, mouthing 'don't panic'.

"Banger Krumpit," Ron read, his face furrowed in thought. "Never heard of him."

"Probably didn't get caught when Voldemort went down. Lucius will have picked him up again no doubt," Harry replied, tearing his gaze away from Hermione to look at Ron.

"Who do you think their dad was? A Death Eater supposedly. Doesn't give us a lot of scope, does it?"

"Is there a picture?" Harry asked, leaning across the table in an attempt to see the paper.

"A bad one," Ron replied, looking at it himself briefly before turning it round for Harry to look at. Ron was right – it was a terrible picture. Alfraido had obviously tried to dodge the photographer at the last moment and as a result you only caught a glimpse of his face before it was shielded from view by a stone pillar.

"I don't suppose it would matter anyhow," Aeryn said. "He's a Metamorphagus, so if he didn't like his father, he would hardly have kept anything in his appearance looking identical to him."

"Hmm…good point," Harry replied, averting his gaze from the picture. Ron turned the paper back round and lay it flat on the table, looking at the two articles on the front page.

"It's unusual, don't you think?" Ron asked. "The _Daily Prophet _normally manages to get so much information on the things it writes about, but there's hardly anything on this. I mean, sure…it's _obvious _he went to Hogwarts, so that's no real news. The fact that he has a brother, a mum who-" he cut off and looked up at Hermione, coughed unnecessarily loudly and continued "-and the fact that he caught all those Death Eaters wouldn't be particularly difficult to find out. They would usually have at least two or three pages on a story like this. His entire history. And the fact they couldn't find out who his dad is…"

"Probably the Ministry trying to shut them all up. Don't want too much getting out-"

"Or maybe they really couldn't find out anything," Aeryn interrupted. "Maybe he keeps his personal life to himself-"

"Or he has no one to tell stuff to," Ron snorted, grabbing the last bread roll from the middle of the table and dropping it on his plate. Harry shook his head and turned back to his dinner, glancing up at Hermione to make sure that she was still alright. Nothing else had gone from her plate and Harry knew she wouldn't be satisfied until her dad woke up and she was able to talk to him. He heard Ron turning the page of the paper, but it was only the sharp intake of breath that made him look back round.

"What?" he asked, trying to catch a glimpse of the paper to no avail. Ron looked up at him and then wordlessly handed over the paper. Harry frowned, wondering what on Earth was wrong, but one look down at the article told him. Plastered in big letters across the pager were the words 'Potter Parent?' and underneath – taking up almost half the page – was a picture of him and Hermione racing through St. Mungos.

"I don't _believe _it!" he fumed, too angry to even read the article. "They even said about the attack on the front page…" Harry's anger vanished as quick as it had come and his eyes flashed over to Hermione, who was looking up at him. He opened and closed his mouth silently. They'd made a silent vow not to say anything about Hermione's parents and he'd broken it. Even Ron had stopped eating to look between the two of them.

Without a word, Hermione took the paper from him – as much as he tried to hold onto it – and turned it round so that she could see what he'd gotten so angry about. Ron and Harry shared a brief glance, but the latter didn't realise that he was holding his breath until it went out of him with a 'whoosh' on seeing tears pool in Hermione's eyes."

"Hermione…" he reached across the table for her hand, but she pulled it away before he could grab it and climbed to her feet, grabbed her bag and ran out of the Hall.

"I should go after her," Harry said, standing up himself.

"We'll see you in Potions then," Ron replied, reaching across the table for the Newspaper again. Harry nodded and hurriedly walked out of the Hall, the majority of students turning their heads to look at him. Quite a few whispers accompanied the stares from people obviously having seen Hermione leave moments before and a quick look at the tables confirmed Harry's suspicion that almost everyone had a copy of the _Daily Prophet _open on the table in front of them. He looked down at the ground to hide his face from the looks and quickened his pace; wanting to get to the doors as fast as he could so he wouldn't lose Hermione. He needn't have worried. She was sitting on the stairs leading to the upper floors of the Castle, her face buried in her hands. He rushed over, dropping his bag on the step beside hers and then sitting down. She let him pull her into a hug and a quiet sob escaped her.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "Everyone knows it's a pack of lies-"

"No they don't," Hermione insisted, her voice muffled from being buried in his chest. "Everyone looked at me as I walked out and they probably looked at you too. They believe every damn word and we both know it." Harry wanted to say something – anything – that would console her, but his mind had gone completely blank. He had no idea what to say. His experience with crying girls wasn't all that wonderful.

"Nothing we ever do is private," Hermione said, wiping her eyes and looked up at him. "If we so much as hold hands in public, everyone in the Wizarding World knows about it by the next morning-"

"I know. It's not fair, but it's just the way it is," Harry replied, kissing her forehead. "I'm the 'Saviour of the Wizarding World' and nothing I do will make anyone see different." He wiped the rest of the tears on her face away and she looked down at the floor.

"I'd hate to see what would happen if someone ever _did _get a picture of usgoing to St. Mungo's because I was pregnant," she said, stifling another sob. It took a moment for Harry to fully digest that sentence, but as soon as he did, he stopped dead, his thumbs no longer wiping her tears. Hermione too seemed to have realised the implications of her words and her eyes grew wide as she stared at him. He dropped his hands so that he could see her face and taking this as a bad sign, Hermione climbed to her feet and grabbed her bag. Harry hesitated for a fraction of a second before grabbing his own bag and going up the stairs after her, stopping them a few steps before the top.

"Did you mean that?" he demanded before she could say anything.

"Harry-"

"You'd want us to stay as a couple long enough for us to start a family together?"

"I didn't mean…" Hermione stopped at the hurt look on his face.

"You wouldn't?" he questioned, his face dropping. She looked at him for a few moments, finally deciding that he wasn't angered by what she had said and then hurriedly explained herself to him.

"I _would_," she insisted. "I just…I mean that I wasn't really thinking about what I said when I said it and that's not really what I mean. I just-" Harry grabbed her round the waist and kissed her, cutting her babbling off mid-way. After getting over the initial shock of being pulled forward so roughly, Hermione let her arms slide round his neck and kissed him back with just as much enthusiasm.

"I do hope you're not planning to go much further than that in the corridor." The moment shattered and the two of them jumped apart, startled by the sudden interruption. Hermione's face had flushed bright red and Harry looked like he was ready to kill whatever idiot had come along to ruin the moment.

"What do you want, Zambini?" Harry demanded, his hands already clenched into fists at his sides. Hermione looked between the two of them unsurely; receiving glares from the two other Slytherin's behind Blaise.

"I was just curious as to whether you planned to go much further than kissing with students under the age of twelve innocently strolling around the castle-"

"I'm not in the mood for this," Harry threatened. "And if you don't bugger off, you're going to have to do quite a bit of explaining to Madame Pomfrey as to why you're missing an arm-"

"Harry!" Hermione gasped an astonished expression on her face as she turned her attention to him.

"You're a violent git, Potter, you know that?" Blaise replied, letting out a chuckle that only made him sound as if he were trying very hard not to cry or scream. He stepped forward, pulling his wand out of his cloak pocket faster than Hermione's eyes could follow and pointing it at Harry. He barely flinched.

"I would have thought you could have done better, Potter," the Slytherin continued, venom lacing each word as his eyes darted over to Hermione. "Every girl in the school would _kill _to be with you, and you settle for…" His voice trailed off, his eyes raking up and down Hermione's body as if trying to find a suitable word to describe her.

"I would think very carefully about your next words if I were you," Harry hissed, barely speaking above a whisper. He either didn't hear him or chose to ignore him, because his next words were anything but nice.

"Has she slipped you a love potion, Potter? Paying you perhaps?" He stepped closer so that his face was mere inches away from Harry's. "Slut's don't fare well in the Wizarding World." Harry's eyes narrowed and before anyone had a chance to register the scathing look on his face, his hand had connected hard with Blaise's nose, sending the other boy sprawling on the floor at his feet. Hermione was torn between telling him to stop before he got himself in even more trouble than he was undoubtedly going to be in; and letting him beat the hell out of the slimy git. She finally decided on the former, grabbing his shoulder and trying as best she could to keep him standing where he was as Blaise scrambled to his feet in front of his friends. They placed supportive hands on his shoulders, trying to help him up into a standing position, while sending frightened glances over at Harry.

"You ever say anything like that again," Harry continued, his voice still no louder than it had been a moment ago. "It'll be the last thing you ever say, Zambini." Hermione looked round at Harry, somewhat startled when she saw that his eyes were completely grey. Blaise – his hands cupped under his now bleeding nose – sent Hermione another scathing look and leaned his back against the wall, trying to wipe the blood of his school robes. Hermione's attention was drawn back to Harry as he doubled over, the palm of his hand pressed against his forehead.

"Harry? Are you alright?"

"Maybe he was sick of seeing the sight of your face," Blaise offered, his voice sounding weird as he pinched the bridge of his nose to stop the blood flow.

"One more word," Harry threatened in a strangled voice. Using Hermione as a support, he managed to stand back up and glare once more at the Slytherin, his eyes now back to their normal emerald green.

"Bellatrix sure did have her fun, didn't she Granger?" Blaise teased, a smirk working its way back onto his face. Harry's eyes flashed again and he felt Hermione tense at his side, her hand gripping his shoulder a lot harder than it had been a moment ago. "It's one less filthy blooded _Muggle _to deal with at least-"

"You little shit." It was only Hermione's firm grip on his shoulder that held Harry back as he jerked forward to hit Blaise again. Seemingly thinking he'd tested his luck enough for the one day, the Slytherin ran off, looking back a few times to make sure that Harry hadn't decided to follow him.

"I'm sorry," Harry apologised, still pressing his hand to his head. "I didn't mean to hit him. It was that – Hermione?" After finally turning to look at her, he saw the stunned look on her completely pale face and felt his own drain of colour. Grabbing her shoulders and looking into her eyes, he felt a wave of panic spread over him.

"Hermione? Are you alright?"

"Snape," she whispered, meeting his gaze, tears pooling in her eyes already.

"What about him?"

"He…he told us."

"He…what?"

"He said…" she blinked back a few tears and swallowed hard. "He told us about Bellatrix." Without waiting for a response from him, Hermione pulled away and ran off down the corridor towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, leaving a stunned Harry to chase after her.

----

Looking through the book and trying to find the spell they wanted was lot harder than they originally imagined, and even after two hours of searching, they'd barely managed to get any further than they had been when they started. Draco of course wasn't doing anything and had long since resorted to rocking back and forth in his chair, listening to Siobhan and Remus talking about whatever spells they did manage to find in the book. They'd come across quite a few that he wouldn't have minding trying out on Blaise. Of course, he wasn't going to tell anyone that, though judging by the stunned look on Siobhan's face, he guessed he'd propelled that thought enough for her to hear.

"This is hopeless," Siobhan muttered, hitting her head against the table and closing her eyes in defeat.

"It can't be _that _bad," Draco replied, leaning forward in his chair. "The book didn't look that thick the first and only time _I _saw it-"

"It had spells that shrunk it down," she explained, groaning. "It's at least six times the size it looks and there must be thousands of spells in it. We could be here for the rest of the week looking for the counter curse to this spell-"

"Well surely they had some way of finding what spell they wanted when they needed it," Draco offered, meekly.

"Yes, but as I don't know how they did that, we have to resort to going through each page individually. There's more than one spell for making someone blind, but each seems to have a different effect and different symptoms and as each one has a long explanation after it, we have to read every one and then try to decide whether that's the one that they used on you. If we used the wrong counter curse, we don't know what kind of effect that would have on you, so we have to be one hundred percent sure that it's the right one."

"I…just asked if there was a way to find the spell," Draco replied. "I didn't need a full blown explanation."

"Fine, I won't give you one next time then," Siobhan scoffed, opening her eyes to look at him with her cheek resting on the table. Draco shrugged and leaned back in his chair and then instantly jumped again as the door flew open with such force that it hit the wall behind it.

"What the-" He didn't get any further. Hermione was almost running up to the front desk and Remus opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but the sentence didn't even get out before Hermione had picked up the book and flipped to the last page with writing on. Her eyes scanned it all the way to the bottom, clearly re-reading the same line over and over, until Harry burst into the room and snatched the book from her hands, at which point she fell to the floor, tears falling freely down her face.

"What happened?" Draco questioned, his voice breaking the uneasy silence in the room. Hermione let out a quite sob and Harry threw the book on the floor carelessly after reading it and pulled her against his chest, kissing the top of her head. Remus seemed to want an answer to Draco's question too and Harry nodded at the book, mouthing the words 'read it' to him. He picked it up, his eyes scanning the words and widening in realisation as he read it.

**Daniel Granger (Muggle) – Tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange **

**Lillian Granger (Muggle) – Tortured and Murdered by Bellatrix Lestrange**

"He tried to tell us," Hermione sobbed, letting Harry rock her back and forth in an attempt to stop her crying. It didn't. "He told us Bellatrix was doing something." Harry felt an incredible wave of guilt wash over him when he realised that it was _him _who hadn't let Snape finish what he was saying in the cell about Bellatrix 'having fun'.

"Hermione, it's my fault, if I'd have let him finish-"

"Neither of you are to blame and you know it," Remus replied, putting the book down on the table and helping Harry get Hermione into one of the chairs. "You wouldn't have been able to alert anyone in time to stop what Bellatrix was doing. The book updates as it's happening, not when they're thinking about doing it. She was already there when Snape was reading that book out to you." Hermione looked up at him through her tear stained face, opening her mouth to argue. Remus cut her off.

"You would never have made it in time. If they were already in St. Mungo's by the time we got out of Azkaban and back to the castle, then that shows us that the book was updated just as Bellatrix was bringing whatever she was doing to a close." Remus crouched down in front of Hermione and looked at her face. "Just don't blame yourself, alright? No one wants or needs you to do that." She nodded meekly and wiped her tears on her sleeve.

"Thank you, Remus," Harry said as he helped his girlfriend to her feet. "We'll drop by later if we can and give you a hand with that book. You two don't look like you're getting anywhere very fast-"

"There are three of us, Potter," Draco scoffed. "Just because I can't see doesn't mean I'm not offering helpful suggestions-"

"Oh shut up," Siobhan interrupted, rolling her eyes and looking back down at the page of spells. "You've done absolutely nothing." Draco smirked and leaned back in his chair, seemingly happy with himself for some reason. Harry chuckled at the two of them and then turned with Hermione to the door – only to stop when he saw McGonagall standing there. He couldn't decide whether the look on her face was a good thing or a bad thing, but finally decided on the former when she offered a weak smile.

"Your father's awake, Miss. Granger."


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N – Yes, it's been a while. I'm sorry. I've been busy. Well. Sort of. I'll try update more regularly. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from the world of Harry Potter – much as I'd like to – it all belongs to JK Rowling.**

**Chapter Twenty-One**

Harry and Hermione used the fireplace in McGonagall's office to floo themselves to St. Mungos, and the two of them arrived in the same room the Portkey had bright them to the day before. It was still busy and a few people turned to look at them as they stumbled out the fireplace, but Harry didn't see any camera flashes this time and was relieved that they wouldn't end up having their faces plastered all over the morning paper again. This time, Hermione dragged _him _through the hospital to her parent's room, only pausing briefly to read one of the signs before she started in their direction. The receptionist from the day before was there again and she still wore the same dazed, stunned expression on seeing Harry. He sent her an awkward half smile and then her face disappeared from view as he was dragged round a corner. He wondered briefly whether Hermione's Dad would still be in the same ward as he had the day before, but saw no reason as to why he would have been moved except for possible security reasons. Harry turned his attention to Hermione – who probably would have been running was he not holding her hand and keeping to walking pace himself – seemed to be happy, anxious, relieved and scared all at once, and Harry knew that as soon as she had talked to her Dad the relief would kick in and she would start crying as her façade dropped.

Her pull on his hand seemed to decrease, which meant that she had slowed to a normal pace again, pushing timidly through the double doors that would lead them into the corridor her Dad was in. Harry wondered briefly how quickly they had managed to move Hermione's Mum to a Muggle Hospital, or if they'd done it at all yet, but his thoughts were interrupted by cautiousness at the now silent area around them. The sudden change from being in a loud, busy corridor to a quiet one had startled him and he heard a nagging voice in the back of his head telling him that something was wrong. He ignored it and let Hermione drag him down the corridor, looking in through the blurred windows of each door in case someone was hiding behind them. Even then he wasn't prepared when someone did appear.

"Are you Hermione Granger?" a voice demanded, making the both of them whirl round. Harry instinctively reached for his wand, only stopping when he saw the one pointing at his chest. The man holding it was standing in the shadows so that his face was hidden and undoubtedly had a hood over his head anyway.

"Yes," Hermione replied, her voice sounding somewhat choked. Without lowering the wand, the man stepped out of the shadows and pulled his hood down. Without thinking, Harry's hand reached down to his pocket again and once again he had to force himself not to pull his own wand. The man standing there seemed to have realised what Harry had been about to do and a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, only growing wider when Harry's eyes flickered down to look at his own wand.

"I didn't mean to startle you Mr. Potter," the man apologised, lowering his wand to his side and looking the two of them over. Had it been anyone else, they probably would have been even more cautious at the fact that a stranger had known their name, but everyone knew who Harry was, so where was the use in finding that suspicious?

"Alfraido Krumpit," the man introduced, holding his hand out for Harry to shake – which he did after a brief moment of hesitation. Realisation has suddenly dawned on Harry when the Auror introduced himself and he sent a fleeting look at the door Mr. Granger was being kept behind. The Auror was here to protect him in case the Death Eaters came to finish off the job.

He supposed that had it been anyone else other than Harry Potter in front of him, there would have been a barrage of questions to prove their identity. Harry, however was a difficult person to impersonate because of the amount of media cover it would most likely get. Everyone would know that he had been mimicked by the next morning – if not sooner – and the Death Eaters would just have put themselves under closer surveillance.

Alfraido's eyes followed Harry's towards the door and a half smile crossed his face.

"A nurse is in there at the moment," he informed them, flicking his wand and conjuring up three chair opposite the door and nodding over to them. "You won't be allowed in until she's finished checking her patient." Harry dragged Hermione over to the chairs and half forced her into a sitting position on one of the end seats, so that he could sit in the middle one. Alfraido tucked his wand away and pulled the other chair round so that it was facing the two of them and then sat in it.

"Why are you here?" Hermione questioned, tearing her eyes away from the door to look at the Auror. "You're here to question him on what happened, aren't you?" Alfraido studied her for a few moments before nodding, solemnly.

"I know that you may think it's too soon to question him on what happened, but the longer we leave it, the less he's going to remember-"

"But he doesn't need to remember anything," Hermione insisted, sitting up in her chair, her eyes alight. "We already know that Bellatrix did it!"

"Not necessarily," Alfraido replied, raising an eyebrow in what Harry could only assume was suspicion and curiosity. "It could have been any of the Death Eaters. What would make you think it was her in particular?" Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but then stopped, her breath catching in her throat when she realised that he was right. To everyone except the group that had been to Azkaban it _could _have been any other Death Eater; because they didn't know about the book. And she couldn't tell them. Because she'd promised not to.

"Miss Granger?" Alfraido prompted, cutting into her thoughts. Her eyes flashed to look at him and she opened her mouth, at a loss for words.

"She was just going to say that Bellatrix held a grudge against Hermione because she's the one that took her down in the Final Battle," Harry offered, squeezing Hermione's hand reassuringly. She breathed a sigh of relief that Harry had been quicker to come up with a lie then she had, and looked back at the Auror – who was eyeing the two of them suspiciously. In truth, it had actually been Ron that had finished Bellatrix off and been the one responsible for her capture; but Alfraido didn't need to know that.

"Why are you here Mr. Potter?" Alfraido questioned. "Shouldn't you be at school?" He looked at Hermione again, obviously still wondering what she had been about to say and not buying Harry's story.

"I'm-"

"You are aware that visitors are restricted to myself and family?" he continued before Harry could finish his sentence.

"We're engaged," Hermione interrupted before Harry could open his mouth, remembering what the Nurse had told them to use as an excuse the day before. Alfraido didn't let his expression give away what he was thinking and his eyes flickered to look at Hermione's hand before she had a chance to hide it from view.

"No ring, Mr. Potter?" he asked, looking up at Harry and raising an eyebrow. "Surely with the amount of money in your Vault cost can't be a problem?"

"Of course not," Harry replied, defensively.

"We're going to pick out a ring together," Hermione interrupted before Harry lost his temper, using the first excuse that came to her head. "And Harry wanted to talk to my..." Her voice trailed off and she looked up at the door again before her eyes fell to her hands on her lap.

"Right," Alfraido said, looking between the two of them. "Congratulations to the both of you." Hermione nodded, wondering how they'd managed to get away with such a lie. Surely the Auror couldn't believe they were engaged whilst still in school?

The three of them looked round as the door opened and Hermione gripped Harry's hand as the nurse emerged.

"How is he?" Alfraido asked, getting the question in before the nurse had even closed the door and before Harry or Hermione had even opened their mouths. The suspicious look on his face had been replaced by one of concern and Harry glared at him, unsure of what to make of the new Head Auror. The nurse looked round at the three of them, a look of surprise on her face. Whether it was because of the fact there were so many of them – she'd probably only seen Alfraido on the way in – or because of the fact Harry was there, he didn't know.

"He's doing well," the Medi-Witch replied, her eyes flitting over to look at Harry. "He should be well enough to leave in a week or two." Harry made sure to nod to show that he understood what she had said, wondering briefly where the nurse from the day before had gone.

"Can I go in and see him?" Hermione questioned a hint of desperation in her voice.

"I can only admit family into the ward," she told them, her eyes flashing over to Alfraido. "And Mr. Krumpit."

"I'm his daughter," Hermione replied, rising from her chair as the Auror did, dragging Harry with her. He wondered whether or not it would be a good idea to use the 'fiancé' excuse to another person. The last thing they both needed was someone running off and telling the press that they had been told by Harry Potter himself that he and Hermione Granger were engaged. Hermione still had hold of his hand and hoped that they'd just get through the door without any questions asked.

"Uh Mr. Potter-" the nurse interrupted feebly. Harry turned round to look at her, opening his mouth to tell her the same lie as they'd told Alfraido, but the Auror got there first.

"You two go in," he ordered, putting a hand on the nurses shoulder as she went to protest, which resulted in a small squeak escaped her as her counter argument died down. Harry glanced at the two of them one last time before being pulled into the room by Hermione. Her hand released his the second the bed came into view and by the time Harry had closed the door and looked round, Hermione had made it over to her Dad and the two of them were still hugging. Hermione's Dad looked so relieved to see his daughter that Harry thought he might be about to cry. He wrung his hands together awkwardly and pulled up one of the chair from the side of the room so that he could sit down.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Hermione sobbed, pulling away so that she could look at him, but still gripping his arms. "I thought-"

"Doesn't matter," Mr. Granger replied, pulling her forward and kissing her forehead. The door opened again and all three people looked round, watching as the Auror stepped into the room. Harry wondered what he'd told the Medi-Witch, but didn't feel that it was the right time to ask. Merlin forbid he should bring engagement in front of Hermione's Dad in the state he was in.

"Hello Mr. Granger," Alfraido greeted, nodding at the man. "I'm Alfraido Krumpit. The nurse should have told you I was coming in-"

"Yes, she did," Daniel replied bitterly, obviously not happy about the fact he would have to answer questions about what had happened so soon after it _had _happened.

"I apologise for the timing, but we need to catch the Death Eaters that did this as soon as possible," Alfraido explained. Harry caught sight of him pointing his wand at the door behind his back to lock it and narrowed his eyes in suspicion, glaring at the Auror. Alfraido either hadn't seen the glare or had decided to ignore it.

"Can't this at least wait until tomorrow?" Daniel asked, taking his eyes off Hermione – who had placed herself at the end of his bed. "I don't-"

"The longer you leave this for, the more you're going to force yourself to forget. We need you to tell us now while everything is still fresh in your mind," Alfraido urged. Harry got the distinct feeling that he was only there under the condition that the patient was willing to oblige. "I understand that this is difficult, what with Mrs. Granger passing away-"

"Alright," Daniel interrupted, closing his eyes and resting his head back against the head board of the bed, a pained expression on his face.

"Dad, you don't have to-" Hermione protested, obviously having come to the same conclusion as Harry had.

"No it's alright," he interrupted, reaching for her hand and patting it. "I'll answer any questions Mr. Krumpit has-"

"But-"

"Thank you Mr. Granger," Alfraido pulled one of the chairs from the corner of them room and moved it round to face the bed. Instead of seating himself on it, he sat on the backrest with his feet resting on the actual seat. He rested his elbows on his knew and put his hand in his hands before focusing his attention on Daniel.

"Why don't you just start from the beginning?" he prompted. Harry got up from his chair and sat on the bed that – the day before – had been Mrs. Grangers, opposite Hermione and sent her a reassuring look. "What were you doing when the Death Eaters attacked?"

"We'd just got home," Daniel replied, looking up at Alfraido. "I picked Lillian up from work – her car's broken-" He stopped himself, realising that they Auror may not have ever even been in a car before. "They were waiting for us."

"How many?"

"Uh…I don't know," Mr. Granger muttered. "Four in the living room, two in the Kitchen, two upstairs-"

"You're sure about those numbers?"

"Well of course I'm not!" Daniel cried, his eyes snapping open to glare at Alfraido. "There were people in my house! I was wondering what the hell they were doing there, not counting how many there were!"

"Dad…"Hermione warned, squeezing his hand that she was still holding.

"Perhaps the two of you should wait outside," Alfraido suggested, glaring at Hermione and then looking round at Harry – who scowled straight back at him.

"I don't think so," Harry scoffed, crossing his arms across his chest. Alfraido frowned and turned his attention back to Mr. Granger.

"Where they all wearing masks, Mr. Granger?"

"Most of them," Daniel replied, shrugging. "White skull masks."

"Only must of them?"

"The woman wasn't." Harry and Hermione looked at each other, frowning. Bellatrix was the only female Death Eater they knew of at the moment and Alfraido would now want more answers as to what Bellatrix would want revenge against Hermione for. The Auror – genuinely interested and anxious by this point – leaned forward in his chair.

"A woman? Describe her for me."

"She was wearing a hood-"

"So you don't know what her face looked like?" Alfraido asked, sinking back into his chair, the excited look on his face falling into a frown.

"She was wearing a hood _at first_," Daniel finished, scathingly. "All the other Death Eaters called her Bella." The Auror smirked as his eyes flashed over to Hermione – who frowned at the triumphant look he sent her. Harry wondered how much of a bid deal Alfraido would make out of the fact that they'd been confident in the knowledge that Bellatrix had attacked her parents.

"What happened after you realised the Death Eaters were there?"

"We didn't realise at first," Daniel explained. "It's late by the time we get home and then lights are always off. They'd cornered us and locked the door before we'd noticed anything. It was only as I went to turn the light on that they made themselves noticed. Then two of them tied us up – well…" Daniel shrugged and his eyes flashed to look at Hermione. "It _felt _like we were being tied up, but I didn't see any ropes-"

"Binding curses," Hermione told him.

"What then?" Alfraido prompted, either annoyed that his only witness to the whole incident was a Muggle, or annoyed that Harry and Hermione were still there. Harry was willing to bet that it was a mixture of the two.

"She was talking about a Battle and how Harry and Hermione had killed her Lord, then there was…" Daniel trailed off, thinking hard for a moment. Harry could tell by the way he talked about what had happened that Hermione hadn't been completely honest with her parents when telling them about the Final Battle and Voldemort, and swore silently to question her about it later. "…She made it feel like there were…knives stabbing every part of your body, and my head-"

"Cruciatus curse," Hermione interrupted again. "The torturing curse." Her eyes flashed over to look at Harry and he didn't have to have known her for the last six and half years to know that the emotion swirling in them was fear. Mr. Granger for his part looked horrified that his daughter seemed to know what the curse was and Harry could almost hear the cogs turning in his head, telling him that his daughter had actually been through that kind of pain before.

"Are you sure, Mr. Granger-"

"Of course he's sure," Hermione interrupted again, glaring at the Auror. "You can't mistake the pain of the Cruciatus Curse for goodness sake-"

"Hermione, dear," Mr. Granger reached forward to hold her arm, but she shrugged him off without even giving it a second thought, keeping her attention focused on Alfraido.

"No, he's asked what happened and then interrogates you on each answer you give-"

"I'm just trying to get the facts right-"

"He was tortured!" Hermione cried, tears pooling in her eyes. "He can't be your perfect witness. He has _no idea _what's going on-"

"And I suppose you think that you do?"

"I don't think I do," Hermione growled, her hand reached for her wand as she jumped off the bed. Alfraido already had his in his hand and it was pointing at her in a flash. "_I'm _in the middle of it." Daniel looked between the two of the, his expression a mixture of surprise at his daughters actions and worry at her safety. Harry rose from his chair and stepped in between Hermione and Alfraido, holding a hand out in either direction to stop them moving towards each other.

"I think you're over-reacting a little Miss Granger-"

"No I'm _not_," Hermione hissed, pointing her wand at his chest. "You weren't the one who had to stand and look Voldemort in the eye while he tried to kill you and your best friends or when he threatened to go after your family when he was finished with you. And I'm sure you didn't have to go through Hogwarts while your best friend had a prophecy about a Mad-man hell-bent on destroying him and the rest of the world. _Don't _tell me I'm over-reacting."

"Hermione…" Harry wrapped his hand around the one she had on her wand and lowered it – much as she tried to resist. Wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her back onto the bed and away from Alfraido, he was momentarily surprised when she buried her head into his chest, letting out a quiet sob.

"I think you should leave," Harry told Alfraido, scathingly.

"You don't have the authority to do that, Mr. Potter-"

"You're here under the condition that Mr. Granger agrees to it. If he says you go, then you have to leave-"

"That's a mistake on your part. I can be here as long as I like-"

"Would you like me to get a Medi-Witch to confirm that?" Harry challenged. Alfraido scowled at him before his eyes flashed quickly to look at Daniel. Harry's own eyes narrowed as Daniel clapped a hand to his forehead, screwing his face up in pain and doubling over. It was only as he saw Alfraido's wand that realisation dawned on him. Jumping up from the bed and away from Hermione grasp, he slammed the Auror back into the wall, grabbing hold of his hand and trying to loosen his grip on his wand to no avail. Only vaguely aware of Hermione's voice screaming for them to stop, Harry wrapped his hand around Alfraido's wand in the hopes that he'd be able to pull it away, and sucked in a deep breath of surprise as a memory that he knew wasn't his own came flooding into his head.

_The car doors slammed shut as Daniel and Lillian Granger climbed out their car, the black Audi TT beeping as Mr. Granger set the alarm. He took one of the bags of shopping from the back seat of the car and handed the keys to his wife a__s she started towards the door. Holding a bag of her own, she put the key into the lock on the front door. _

"_Don't forget," Daniel said, coming up behind her. "You've got to take those cakes across the road tonight-"_

"_I know-"_

"_And reply to Hermione's letter-"_

"_I have forgotten about that either," she assured him. Rolling her eyes, she unlocked the front door pushed it open gently so that it wouldn't hit the wall behind it and leave a mark. Having neither hand free after picking up the mail that had come for them while they were out, Lillian walked into the darkness, calling over her shoulder for her husband to turn the light on. He kicked the front door closed behind him and reached for where he knew the switch was. _

"_I wouldn't do that if I were you, Mr. Granger," a voice sneered from one of the corners of the room. Daniel whirled round, hearing his wife give a frightened squeak from somewhere to his left. _

"_Who's there?" he asked, putting the shopping bag on the floor beside him so that both his hands were free. _

"_All in good time," the voice replied. It was male and seemed a little different to the first. Daniel looked round the room, though the dark curtains they had made it near impossible to see even his own hand in front of his face. Whirling round at the sound of a scuffle, Mr. Granger slid his hand up the wall in search of the light switch. _

"_What do you want?" he demanded, his voice quivering. _

"_Be patient, Granger," the man taunted. Daniel's eyes searched the room – even though there was no point – when he heard movement, and the hand that wasn't looking for the light switch reached down for the umbrella that they kept by the door. _

"_So, tell me," the person said, his voice now coming from the direction of the kitchen. "How's your daughter these days?" _

"_Are you one of them lot?"_

"_Now, Granger, that's not a very polite thing to say, is it?" _

"_Are you?" _

"_How's your daughter, Granger?" the voice repeated. Daniel's hand found the light and he rested his thumb on the switch. "I saw the letter you got from her. She seems to be doing well in school. Good grades." There was the sound of paper being screwed up and then thrown on the floor and Daniel wondered how long they'd been there going through their stuff. _

"_Her relationship with Potter seems to be going well," the voice sneered, loathingly. "You might have a Son-in-law soon. If you live that long, anyway-"_

"_Why are you here?" Daniel questioned, his thumb pushing down gently on the light switch as his eyes blindly searched the room. _

"_Don't push that switch, Granger."_

"_Answer my question."_

"_Well," the man chuckled. "We feel that young Miss. Granger should see what we think her family's life is worth. When she finally hears the news, I think she'll be most devastated." The footsteps came towards him slightly and Daniel's other hand searched frantically for something he could use to defend himself in case the Death Eater came anywhere near him. He knew even before his hand had wrapped around the umbrella that he'd hoped was still there from the day before that it would be useless. It wouldn't help him at all if these people were Wizards. _

"_I have a question for you, Granger," the voice continued, a hint of amusement in his tone now. _

"_What?" Daniel replied, venomously. _

"_Is this beautiful thing your wife?" Daniel had pushed the switch without even a moment of thought and the room flooded with light. His eyes flickered around the room. Two Death Eaters sat in the chairs surrounding the small coffee table on which their wands were resting and another stood beside the fireplace, seemingly contemplating whether or not there was any point in lighting it. There was one other Death Eater standing by the window – obviously having been looking out for the two of them to return home. Daniel looked round and caught sight of Lillian being held by another Death Eater, who had his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming and another stood behind him, leaning on the kitchen door frame. The only other person in the room was the man who had been talking to him and was the only Death Eater not wearing a hood or mask. _

"_What did I tell you about that light switch, Granger?" the man asked, his black hair falling into his eyes as he looked over at the two Death Eaters by the coffee table. They rose from the chairs, picked up their wands and then grabbed hold of Daniel, pushing him into one of the wooden chairs found at the other small table in the room. _

"_Perhaps I should have made it clear what would happen if you switched on the light." Pulling what Daniel instantly recognised as a wand from his pocket, the man pointed it at Lillian. _

"_No! Don't!" Daniel cried, struggling against the two Death Eaters behind him. _

"_You don't know what I'm going to do yet," the man chuckled, cocking his head to the side as he stared at him. "And if you're that scared of pointing my wand at your wife, then your daughter must keep you well informed." Lowering his wand back to his side, the man stepped up to where Daniel was sitting, crouching down so that he was at eye level with him. _

"_Unfortunately for you and your wife, it's not me that you should be frightened of." He smirked and looked over his shoulder as two Death Eaters descended the stairs. Daniels eyes flickered to look at them, noting the fact that the woman didn't have a mask on either._

"_This is Bella," the man introduced, smirking. "And she'll be your torturer for this evening." A small whimper escaped Lillian at the word and Daniel winced. The man chuckled and walked over to the bottom of the stairs as the woman – Bella – reached them. For the first time, Daniel noticed she was holding something in her hand and his eyes flickered to look at her face to find that she was already staring at him. _

"_You like to keep plenty of pictures up around the house, I see," she jeered, waving them in her hand and then handing them to the man as she dropped down the last step. He looked through them and smirked, picking one from the middle and holding up so Daniel could see. He scowled at the two Death Eaters and then looked down at the picture, remembering the day as soon as he saw it. Hermione's sixteenth birthday. _

"_Happy family, eh?" the man teased, handing the other pictures to Bella and then pulling his wand from his pocket. "Such a terrible shame it's not made to last." Tossing the picture up in the air, he pointed his wand at it, muttered something under his breath and then watched as is went up in flame. Looking back at Bella, he smirked. _

"_Have fun," he chuckled, making his way into the Kitchen. _

"_Oh, don't worry," Bella replied, seconds before the sound of the man's footsteps was drowned out by a screamed ripped from Lillian. "I will." _

Harry felt someone grab his shoulder, and before he could even begin to register what was happening, he'd been pulled away and was laying on his back on the floor. Both his hands flew up to his head and he squeezed his eyes shut, groaning in pain.

"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione sobbed, her hand wrapping around his arm and trying to help him sit up. He sucked in a deep breath and pushed himself to his feet, his eyes scanning the room for Alfraido. He found the Auror leaning against the wall, taking deep breaths to try and calm his breathing. Without a moments hesitation, he stormed over and punched him, sending him sprawling on the floor – obviously too weak from the spell to keep himself on his feet. Harry steadied himself on the edge of Daniel's bed, trying not to fall over himself.

"What in the _hell _did you do that for?" he demanded. "Using _Legilemency_ on a Muggle can cause them serious damage-"

"And grabbing the wand of said Legilemens can cause _them _damage," Alfraido hissed, wiping the blood dripping from his nose on the sleeve of his shirt. Harry regretted hitting him for a minute, knowing that he'd more than likely get in trouble for it, but the regret vanished instantly. He'd deserved it.

"Good," Harry spat, trying to steady his breathing and get the room to stop spinning. He looked round at Mr. Granger – who seemed to be in a great deal of pain – and then at Hermione, who was still sitting on the floor where he'd left her before punching Alfraido.

"Get out," he ordered, turning his attention back to the Auror as his eyes flashed dangerously. "And Merlin help you if you come back." After a moments hesitation and a quick glance at Harry's eyes, the Auror did as he was told, climbing up on unsteady feet and hurrying to the door.

"Stupid bastard," Harry muttered, raising a hand to his forehead again and walking round the bed to help Hermione up. She took his hand gratefully and wrapped her arms round his waist. Still gripping the side of the bed, Harry touched Daniels arm lightly.

"Are you alright, Sir?" he questioned, cautiously.

"Fine-"

"Should I get a nurse?" Daniel shook his head and looked up at the two of them, holding his arms open for Hermione, who gladly ran over to him and enveloped him in a hug.

"What did he do?" Mr. Granger asked, rubbing his forehead and looking up at Harry, still holding Hermione in a one-armed-hug.

"Read your mind, so to speak," Harry told him, collapsing back onto the chair Alfraido had been sitting in and turning his attention to Hermione. "Barty was there."

"How about Lucius?" she questioned, wiping the tears from her eyes and pulled away from her dads hug enough to look at Harry. He shook his head and looked over at Daniel as if it would help being back any memories.

"Did Bellatrix…" Hermione trailed off and her eyes flickered to look at the bed that had been occupied the day before by her mum. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Harry told her, shaking his head. "I didn't get that far. She's only just started with a _Cruciatus _Curse when you pulled me away." Hermione nodded again and her eyes flickered up to look at the clock, a look of disdain crossing her face when she saw how much time Alfraido had wasted.

"We have to go soon," she muttered, looking at Harry and then her dad. He kissed his forehead.

"Don't worry, I'll see you again soon," he told her. "They'll be letting me out in a few days-"

"What if-"

"They've offered me protection and a safe house. I'll be alright and I'll see you again at the Funeral." His voice cracked on the last word and having obviously been waiting for the right moment to start crying, Hermione abruptly burst into tears, grabbing her dad's shirt and burying her head in his shoulder. Harry looked between the two of them awkwardly and decided to give them a few moments alone. Alfraido had left the door unlocked on his way out and Harry made his way towards it, pushing down gently on the handle and then swinging it out slowly. He closed it behind him again and then rested his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to get the thought that he was the one to blame out of his head. It was hard, knowing that Hermione's parents were targeted specifically because their daughter was his girlfriend. He wondered briefly just what would happen if the nurse blabbed that they were getting engaged and then his mind went on to ask the question as to whether he'd even known the two of them were dating before the Death Eaters told him.

"Mr. Potter?" a voice asked feebly from beside him. He opened his eyes to find a nurse at least a head shorter than her was standing in front of him. He looked at her expectantly as she blushed.

"A message came for you," she told him, holding out a note. He stood up straight and took it from her, unfolding it and scanning his eyes over what it said. Looking back up at the Medi-Witch, he nodded his thanks and after blushing again, she hurried off, throwing him one last glance over her shoulder. He didn't have time to shove the note in his pocket before the door behind him opened and Hermione stepped out.

"I wondered where you'd gone," she said, wrapping her arms round his waist and burying her head in his chest.

"I thought I'd give you and your dad a few moments alone," he replied, kissing the top of her head. "Is he alright?"

"He's upset that he couldn't help Mum," she sniffled. "And angry at Bellatrix and Alfraido. He wanted me to thank you-"

"What for?" Harry asked, incredulously.

"For stopping Alfraido," she replied, looking up at him and smiling. "And for looking after his little girl." Harry smiled back and placed another quick kiss on her forehead. She pulled away to kiss him properly and then stepped back, wiping the last few remaining tears away.

"What's that?" she asked, catching sight of the piece of paper in his hand. He looked down at it and smirked.

"They found the counter curse to the spell on Draco."


End file.
